Orcas are known for their intelligence, agility, and playfulness. Nowhere is this more obvious thn the Pacific Northwest, where the resident orca pods attract tourists and scientists from around the world.
Yet, this critically endangered population of killer whales has been reduced to only 84 individuals. These unique marine mammals have been decimated by the decline of salmon--their primary prey--and by toxic pollution and habitat degradation from shipping, sonar and other human activities.
Now they face a new threat from anti-environmental groups seeking to strip away their Endangered Species Act protections. We feel that the National Marine Fisheries Service should give this unique population full protection under the law.
This extended family group of killer whales, known as the southern residents, spends much of the year hunting salmon in the waters between Washinton and Canada.
In winter and spring months when salmon are scarce, they can range as far south as California in search of food.
The Pacific Legal Foundation and the California irrigators they represent have asked the federal National Marine Fisheries Service to lift protections for the orcas on the flawed premise that all killer whales are the same.
But the truth is that southern resident killer whales have evolved distinct language, culture, and physical and genetic characteristics that set them apart from other types of killer whales that feed on marine mammals or roam the open ocean.
These irrigators hope to grab more water resources, futher devastating California salmon and the species that depend of them.
The National Marine Fisheries Service is now considering this cynical request to delist the southern resident orcas.
Please voice your support for continuing vital protections for the Pacific Northwest's irreplaceable killer whales.
Earthjustice litigation resulted in the southern residents getting Endangered Species Act protections in 2005. Please help ensure those protections remain in place.
We need to urge the Fisheries Service to reject this misguided effort to put a handful of irrigaors ahead of the west coast's natural heritage.
Sincerely, Steve Mashuda
Attorney, Northwest Regional Office of Earthjustice in San Francisco
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