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WDC2023-007 NMLC Release (16)

Seal Rescued in Marshfield Released Back Into The Wild

For Immediate Release, May 31, 2023 PLYMOUTH, MA - A young male grey seal that...

Norway ups whale kill numbers and removes whale welfare protections

The whaling season in Norway has begun on the back of disturbing announcements from the...
Image taken from an unmanned hexacopter at >100ft during a research collaboration between NOAA/SWFSC, SR3 and the Coastal Ocean Research Institute. Research authorized by NMFS permit #19091.

Southern Resident orca petition to list them under Oregon Endangered Species Act advanced

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted today to advance a petition seeking to protect...
Hysazu Photography

WDC and Conservation Partners Continue to Seek Oregon Endangered Species Protection for Southern Resident Orcas

On Friday, April 21st, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will determine whether the petition...

Matriarch of Southern Resident orca community missing

In troubling news out of the Pacific Northwest, the Center for Whale Research announced this week that one of the critically endangered Southern Resident orcas, Samish (J14) is missing and is presumed dead.  Samish is a 42-year-old matriarch in J pod, well-known to orca researchers and whale watchers in the area.  For these tightly-knit, family-oriented whales, a sighting of a family without a key member almost certainly means they have died – and Samish has not been seen with her family group since early August.  Another member of J pod, Polaris (J28) appears to be extremely emaciated, causing concern and worry for the Center’s scientists.

The Southern Residents were noticeably absent from their usual summer habitat this year, and when they finally did arrive, they were in small groups spread over large distances.  This troublesome trend is attributed to a lack of their primary prey – Chinook salmon.  These large, fatty fish can be up to 80% of the Southern Residents’ diet during the summer, but crashing populations of Chinook in the Pacific Northwest has made prey depletion the top threat for the critically endangered orca population.

Perhaps the most heartbreaking aspect of this news is that Polaris is mom to one of the “baby boom” calves: J54, a 7-month-old male who is still nursing and dependent on his mother.  If Polaris dies, the chances are this young orca will die as well, though he may be adopted by his extended family.

To bring the Southern Residents back from the edge of extinction, they need an abundance of healthy, wild Chinook salmon stocks.  Ecosystem restoration and the return of healthy, free-flowing rivers in the Pacific Northwest give salmon their best chance of recovery.  WDC and our partners continue to work towards ecosystem recovery to benefit rivers, salmon, and orcas in the area.  The restoration of the Snake River in the Columbia-Snake River system, and the removal of the four lower Snake River dams, has perhaps the biggest ecosystem recovery potential for endangered Chinook and Southern Residents.   There are several pathways to dam removal currently being investigated – through an Executive Order by President Obama before he leaves office, or through a recent court ruling ordering the federal government to re-assess their management of the Columbia and Snake Rivers – including a consideration of removing the four lower Snake River dams.