How can we protect killer whales from becoming extinct?
There is a move to put some populations of orcas (killer whales) on the US endangered species list. They are on the Washington State list. The primary threat to the resident populations are: – overall decline in salmon numbers throughout the region (salmon are listed under the federal ESA now) – accumulations of long-lived pollutants such as PCBs and DDT – possible harassment from “whale-watchers” and other marine vessels. The low reproductive rate, high adult mortality and low genetic diversity among this population may mark it for extinction or at least a severe struggle to regain its former numbers. Other populations of orcas have different prey, such as marine mammals or sharks. The overfishing of sharks may have a similar effect as the depletion of the salmon stocks in the Pacific Northwest. So there are many things that we can work on doing. Manage fisheries better which may mean severely curtailing logging (which causes muddy runoff which covers the gravel beds where salmon lay
