How You Can Help the Southern Resident Orcas?
Food Shortage
J, K and L pods are almost exclusively fish eaters. Some studies show that up to 90% of their diet is salmon, with chinook salmon being far and away their favorite. During the last 50 years hundreds of wild runs of salmon have become extinct due to habitat loss and overfishing of wild stocks. Many of the extinct salmon stocks are the winter runs of chinook and coho.
Bottomfish probably represent a small portion of the Southern Residents' diet. However, with salmon dwindling, the orcas may be eating more bottomfish—which are also at critically low levels in the San Juan Islands and many other places in the world.
What You Can Do?
- Consider giving up catching fish that spend all or part of their time in the ocean. In the Salish Sea both salmon and bottomfish are at critical levels. For more information on salmon recovery go to SalmonRecovery.gov. If you don't want to give up fishing, at least don't fish in Marine Protected Areas. Most are designed to restore fish populations, which orcas need to survive. Also, follow all sportfishing regulations; view Washington state's rules.
- Volunteer with the San Juan County Bottomfish Recovery Program to monitor Bottomfish Recovery Zones. The more fishers you educate, the fewer fishers there will be in the MPAs, resulting in more fish available for orcas and other marine animals. Call the Bottomfish Recovery Program coordinator at 378-4710, ext. 33
- Get involved in stream restoration. Streams that are closer to their original tree-lined, shaded state are healthier for young salmon and ensure a continued source of food for orcas. Contact your local fish and wildlife club, applicable state agency or Conservation District to learn where to volunteer.
- Contact your legislators about breaching dams on historic salmon runs. Several species of salmon are threatened with extinction, and without free-flowing rivers in which to hatch eggs and raise their young, salmon runs will continue to disappear. Go to Congress.org to find and contact your legislators. Also see www.wildsalmon.org.
- Support sustainable fisheries. Go to the Seafood Watch Chart for sustainable fisheries produced by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This list is updated regularly.
- If you plan to log near the shoreline of a river, stream, lake or the ocean at a minimum follow applicable logging rules and laws. Many rules and laws applying to development near water bodies are designed to protect habitat. For example, erosion (causing silt build-up) and lack of shade (creating water temperatures too high for reproduction) are just two threats to salmon caused by logging along streams.
- If you plan to build on the waterfront, follow laws designed to protect the shoreline. Structures such as bulkheads and docks interfere with the life cycle of many marine species. One example: Immature chinook salmon feed and find cover in eel grass. If eel grass beds are destroyed, these fish lose their livelihood—as do the resident orcas when salmon stocks dwindle.
- Learn more about problems impacting oceans and fisheries. Visit SeaWeb.org, American Oceans Campaign and Ocean Link (great for students).
