Lower Snake River dams at center of debate to save endangered orcas 300 miles away
Without enough chinook salmon to sustain them, southern resident killer whales are starving in the Salish Sea. Some believe the answer lies 300 miles away. "Free the Snake" is their rallying cry.
Scientists to sequence orcas' DNA in effort to save them from extinction
SEATTLE — A new scientific effort will sequence the genomes of critically endangered Pacific Northwest orcas to better understand their genetics and potentially find ways to save them from extinction.The collaboration announced Thursday involves scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Northwest Fisheries Science Center, the nonprofit Nature Conservancy and BGI, a global genomics company.The project will sequence the genome — the entire genetic code of a living thing — of more than 100 southern resident killer whales using skin or other samples collected from live and dead orcas over the past two decades.
500,000 sign petition to breach Snake River dams in effort to save orcas
More than 500,000 people have signed a petition to breach the Lower Snake River dams in an effort to boost wild salmon recovery, putting pressure on state leaders to consider the controversial move.
3 orcas dead, 1 starving: Task force's job increasingly 'urgent'
In March, Gov. Jay Inslee formed a task force to save the species from extinction. Since the task force's formation, three orcas have died.
Multiple southern resident orcas are pregnant but another is ailing, researchers say
Another orca is sick and several others are pregnant in the critically endangered family of southern resident killer whales in the Pacific Northwest.
Whale watching boats still disturbing endangered killer whales despite efforts
FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash. -- Southern resident orca numbers are the lowest they've been in more than three decades.But you'd never know it by the bustling port of Friday Harbor on a bright September day.Bold white letters on red signs say it everywhere: Whale Watching.
Potential recommendations from orca task force include mandatory slow speed zones and killing sea lions
Q13 News has obtained documents containing potential recommendations that could come out of the Governor Jay Inslee's task force to save southern resident orcas, but some task force members are already saying they don't go far enough.
International 10-year salmon preservation plan advances
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Canada and the U.S. states of Alaska, Oregon and Washington would all reduce their catch of fragile salmon species under the terms of an updated international agreement that, if approved, will spell out the next decade of cooperation between the U.S. and Canada to keep the migratory fish afloat in Pacific waters.Members of the Pacific Salmon Commission on Monday recommended a conservation plan that stretches to 2028 after two years of intense negotiations involving fishermen, tribes on both sides of the border and state and federal officials.
Bass, walleye 'invasive' fish? Potential recommendation would reclassify some sport fish, eliminate catch limits
SEATTLE -- A potential recommendation by the state's orca task force would reclassify popular sport fish like bass and walleye as 'invasive' in certain waterways, eliminating catch limits and impacting sport fishermen.Q13 News has obtained documents containing potential recommendations that could come out of Governor Jay Inslee's task force to save southern resident orcas.
'She's dead:' Scientists say struggling southern resident orca J50 deceased
A sick and starving orca known as J50 is dead, Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research told Q13 News late Thursday afternoon.
Sick orca J50 hasn't been spotted in days, feared stranded or dead
On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced 4-year-old J50 hasn't been seen alongside her mother - known as J16 - or the rest of her resident pod in several days.
Experts prepare plan to capture ill orca J50 as last alternative
SEATTLE — Federal biologists said Wednesday they are preparing a plan to capture and treat a sick, critically endangered orca if there is no other way to save her in the wild.Officials said they will intervene and rescue the orca only if she becomes stranded or separated from the rest of her tightly knit group of whales.They want the 4-year-old orca known as J50 to survive in the wild and contribute to the recovery of southern resident killer whales, without putting the rest of the orcas in her pod at risk."We don't intend to intervene while she's with her family.
Experts weigh next steps, possible capture to save orca J50
Nearly two months after an international team of experts began taking extraordinary measures to save a young sick orca, the critically endangered whale is skinnier than ever.
Lack of laws, enforcement leave boaters in the dark around killer whales
The no-go zone would limit vessel noise in an area that is critically important to the endangered southern resident killer whales.
New aerial photos of ailing orca J50 show 'worrying continuation' of decline in past month
NOAA Fisheries and its partner Sealife Response, Rehab and Research on Monday released new aerial photos of ailing local orca J50 to document a "dramatic decline in condition" between 2017 and 2018 and a "worrying continuation of this decline in the last month."
Seattle's PCC market to stop selling chinook salmon to help orcas
Seattle-based PCC Community Markets says it will stop selling all chinook salmon products caught in Northwest waters to help critically endangered orcas.
Environmental groups sue Canadian government over endangered southern resident orcas
VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Six conservation groups have filed a lawsuit over what they claim is the Canadian government's failure to protect endangered southern resident orcas.The lawsuit comes less than a month after J35, a mother orca, carried her dead calf for an unprecedented 17 days throughout Canadian and Washington waters.
Sick orca J50 spotted alive after missing for days and feared dead, given another antibiotics injection
A young southern resident orca known as J50 is missing and biologists fear the sick whale may be dead, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries said in a release.
What's next for starving orca J50? 'If we do nothing, she will die'
SAN JUAN ISLANDS, Wash. -- Live salmon feeding and dart injections are two medication methods that had never before been attempted in the wild.But this month, we’ve seen U.S. and Canadian governments go above and beyond for one killer whale.Scarlet, or J50, is starving and might be sick."She is in a condition where if we do nothing, she will die," said Michael Weiss of Center for Whale Research.Scarlet is only 3 years old, but researchers fear she won’t make it to her fourth birthday this December.