We’re going door to door to save our orcas this summer

On Monday, we launched our Seattle summer canvass campaign to save our Southern Resident orcas. Orcas (or killer whales) are one of the most beloved and charismatic marine mammals in the Pacific Northwest. These apex predators are immensely important culturally and ecologically for the region, but sadly their numbers are dwindling.

Today, less than 75 Southern Resident killer whales are alive and that number continues to decline. Water pollution, vessel strikes and noise have impacted them but the most prominent cause of their die off is the lack of their main food source – Chinook salmon. Over time, salmon runs within the Snake River Basin have declined by around 90% in some places compared to historic levels, and the fish that do make it to sea are much smaller on average compared to ones from decades ago. Southern Resident orcas are having a harder time catching fish and are needing to catch more at the same time, just to stay alive. The disappearance of Chinook salmon in this area can be attributed mainly to four major dams along the Lower Snake River that these fish have a hard time surpassing.

Support is growing within the region to breach these four dams, to free the Snake River, to restore salmon runs and to save our orcas. This summer, our canvass team is proud to be a part of that effort. We’ll be having tens of thousands of conversations about this issue, fundraising for our ongoing fight in this campaign and building public support amongst Washingtonians to demonstrate that people want to save our Southern Resident orcas.

Join us in our effort to save them.