Southern Resident Orcas

Description and Ecology 
The Orca (Orcinus orca), or more commonly known as the killer whale, have been a huge focal point of public interest in the Pacific Norhtwest in the past few decades due to media and their incredible ability to form bonds with humans, such as ones we see at amusement parks such as "Sea World". The Orca is part of the family Dephinidae, which consists of 16-19 species of marine dolphins. With their monotypic nature, they are not hard to identify, and are the largest dolphin species in the world. Being monotypic, there is no known subspecies of Orcas, and most all of them have a similar, however striking, black-and-white color pattern.They also differ in size depending on the gender of the organism; males being the bigger of the two.
    General Facts about Orcas:

• very social animals; live in social groups or families called pods
• can form very strong emotional connections with each other and even with humans (SeaWorld)
• use echolocation to communicate with their pods 
• k-selected species, invest in their young   
• occur in all oceans, have the largst distribution of all cetaceans 
• mostly occur in Pacific Northwest from Alaska to Southern California
• three specific populations: Resident (Southern and Northern), Transient, and Offshore            .

Southern Resident Population (Movement, Population, Distribution, Endangerment)
The Southern Resident Population consists of three pods, designated J,K, and L pods. that reside in the inland waterways of British Columbia and Washington for part of the year, This population is fairly small and is not known to intermix with the Northern Resident populations, as they are thought to be reproductively isolated.  The map to the right depicts the distribution of the Resident,Transient, and Offshore populations. As one can see, the resident populations live in a very small portion of the inland waters of British Columbia and Washington. While most killer whales feed on other marine mammals, such as other whales and ceteacans, for the resident killer whales, the primary dietary choice is fish; specifically salmon. The geographic distributions of Southern Residents are best known in the late spring and early autumn, where all three pods can usually be found in the Georgia Basin before departing in October or November to follow the salmon runs.
      Population Status and Threats 
Before 1974, the population of Southern Residents was at about 140 whales total. During the live capture era (late 1950s- late 1960s), their populations were severely declined due to opportunistic shooting and capture by humans. Since 1974, the Southern Resident population has gone through numerous periods of population growths and declines. There is no over-arching cause for the declination, however, survival rates and fitness has been dropping.
Currently, the population size is estimated to be at about the amount it was in 1960, when it was considered likely depleted.
There are many threats to the Southern Residents and Killer Whales in general, including various forms of environmental degradation, such as oil spills, poor prey quality (such as the reduction of fitness in salmon populations), human disturbance, noise pollution, increased amount of contaminants (bioaccumulation) , disease and more. Researchers have not yet been able to deem which factor affects the population of the Southern Residents the most, however it is estimated that the continued depletion of salmon due to human disturbance is what is affecting the whale the most. A huge part of the recovery plan goes into thorough detail of how we can replenish the salmon population to remedy this problem.

Additionally, here is a link to an interesting video stressing the affect of California's water usage on the Southern Resident Orcas and the salmon that they feast on.

    Current Protections
              In 1972, all marine mammals were placed under protection of the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the US, which placed a moratorium on the taking of these animals and any products derived from them. However, under the MMPA, permits may be issued for research, public display, and commercial / educational photography. In May of 2003, the Marine Mammal Commission deemed the Southern Resident population as "depleted", which is cause for the development of a conservation plan. On November 18, 2005, they were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. This means that the "taking" of Southern Residents is strictly federally prohibited, unless a permit is issued for its international commercial use. There are also state and county laws and guidelines in place to conduct recreational activities such as whale watching in such a way that will not harass the animal. Protections regarding the southern residents has increased heavily in the last decade or so,
     Recovery Plan
           The recovery plan outlines a very thorough management plan that deals with replenishing the salmon population to fix the problem of food availability, reducing the chemical contamination of the oceans that the Southern Residents and their prey species occur in, and reducing human disturbance by vessels. Researchers believe if we can increase the quality of prey species, the fitness of the orcas would also increase. Additionally reducing contaminants and noise pollution would place less physical and emotional stress/harm on the animal as well. There are also plans to:

• investigate southern resident behavior 
• investigate the effects of contaminants and food availability on the southern residents 
• reduce human-animal conflict and man made barriers 
• analyze the demographics of the current populations  
• identify and preserve crucial habitats for the residents 
• determine contaminant levels in prey species and consequently in residents
• reduction, prevention, and management of oil spills (if they occur) 

It is believed that collecting data in all of these categories will help researchers better understand how to achieve the primary goals of preventing the possible extinction or irreversible degradation of this marvelous animal and / or it's habitat. There is an estimated time of 28 years to acheive a de-listing of this species at a cost of around 49 million dollars. The full recovery plan can be read and found here.

Personal Action

     As I am not sure what I can personally due to directly affect the Southern Resident population, there are maybe a few small things that I can do. I can not engage in the commercial use of salmon that the orcas feed on. Additionally, I can abstain from using the chemicals and products that are contaminating our oceans today, For the past few years, I have already stopped using most plastic products such as water bottles and bags. While none of this may really directly help the Southern Resident populations, as a college student who lives far away from where this population spends most of their time, the most I can do would be to spread the awareness and education about the issue surrounding the endangerment od the Southern Resident Orcas.

Written by: Abby Kienle

References and Further Readings:
First Picture
Second Picture
Third Picture
No Fish, No Blackfish Video
Southern Resident Orca Recovery Plan
NOAA Fisheries- Orca Endangerment