Grieving Orca Mother and Dead Calf: What you can do.

Folks, I’m sure you’ve seen it on the news; it has now gotten national attention. It has been heartbreaking for me to watch J35 grieving the loss of her newborn calf1. She spent more than ten days grieving the loss of her child by carrying her dead baby around2. She is not the only mother southern resident orca that has lost its child though. In fact, two-thirds of southern resident orca pregnancies fail now, and every single one of the pregnancies in the past three years have failed because the mothers do not have sufficient food. They are now at a 30 year population low3. They are starving to death because the food they rely on–primarily chinook salmon–are also threatened and endangered themselves. Ask Washington Governor Inslee, WA and OR senators, and the Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers to take strong, decisive action to save orcas now. Governor Inslee’s Orca Recovery Task Force is looking into measures to help protect southern resident orcas by looking at prey, vessel noise, and toxins4. There is no doubt, that lack of prey is the largest obstacle for orca recovery. One huge issue that has been consistently dodged by the task force and our elected officials is the issue of the lower four Snake River dams. The Army Corps and the National Marine Fisheries Service have already concluded that breaching the four Lower Snake River dams the has the highest probability of increasing salmon to help orcas. Instead of choosing the best alternative, we have tried practically everything else, and federal agencies have been ordered by the courts to study the issue once again. It is clear that there is a lack of political backing for our elected officials to support dam breaching as demonstrated by how Governor Inslee reacted to being drilled on this issue during his recent local news interview5. Please demand Governor Inslee, Washington and Oregon senators, and the Army Corps of Engineers to breach the lower Snake River dams by signing this petition and educating your friends and family. Thank you, Aaron Tam Pacific Northwest Organizer Endangered Species Coalition P.S. Links not working? Please sign the petition at this URL: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/time-is-running-out-these-dams-must-be-breached-to-save-endangered-orcas-and-salmon 1. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/southern-resident-killer-whales-lose-newborn-calf-and-another-youngster-is-ailing/ 2. https://www.npr.org/2018/07/31/634316124/grieving-mother-orca-carries-dead-calf-for-more-than-a-week-over-hundreds-of-mil 3. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/two-thirds-southern-resident-orca-pregnancies-fail-180963884/   4. https://www.governor.wa.gov/issues/issues/energy-environment/southern-resident-killer-whale-recovery-and-task-force 5. https://q13fox.com/2018/07/26/inslee-voices-support-for-short-term-action-on-orcas-as-long-term-decisions-loom/