Orca Conservancy

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“Orca conservancy is working on behalf of orcinus orca, the killer whale, and protecting the wild places on which it depends.orca conservancy collaborates with some of the worlds top reserach institutions and environmental groups to address the most critical issues now facing wild orcas.the organizations urgent attention is on the endangered southern resident orcas of puget sound. These three pods, j-pods, k-pods, and l-pods, were decimated by the depletion of prey resources, the accumulaton of marine toxins, and the destruction of salmon spawning and nearshore habitats, the nurseries of the salish sea. In 2021, orca conservancy consistently adjusted our way forward after covid restrictions were lifted, and continued creating tangible projects which directly assist with recovery efforts of the critically endangered southern resident killer whale (srkw) population; food, toxins, and noise. Orca conservancy weighed in on important washington state and national legislation and policy that impacts the southern resident killer whales such as providing comments and public testimony on draft legislation, reaching out and meeting with government representatives about policy and legislation to ensure the southern resident killer whale population continues to have a seat at the table. We do this through mobilizing our supporters and through volunteer policy/legislative advocates. Artificial intelligence (ai) hydrophones. By using strategically placed hydrophones within the salish sea, these programmed hydrophones will be connected to ai technology which uses machine learning to detect and identify whale calls and notify a user who will then confirm whether or not the audio is a whale or another sound. Boater education. Education is the key. Volunteers were stationed on lopez island, as well as the central/south salish sea (gig harbor, point defiance, and tacoma) all educating recreational boaters on the new be whale wise regulations. Water temperature testing. Cool water is essential to the survival of salmon and this project utilizes community scientists to examine the relationship of land use practices to changes in water temperature and then sharing the results with the public and elected officials to promote salmon restoration efforts.”