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| J-50 Scarlet and her mother Slick, photo by NOAA |
The Orca Task Force of Governor Inslee is meeting tomorrow to determine recommendations on saving the starving orcas of the Southern Resident species.
A handful of agencies have been introducing measures for 25 years already. Their measures have not worked, the Chinook salmon are at a low point in thirty years, they are also the main diet of the starving Orcas.
Center for Whale Research expert Ken Balcomb says our best option to save the Orcas is to breach 4 dams of the lower Snake River.
Jim Waddell has been campaigning for years to breach the dams. He ran the dams for around thirty years for the Army Corps of Engineers.
In five separate cases courts have deemed the dams outdated, inefficient, and a danger to salmon and Orcas.
Opposition to breaching the dams is over the hydropower and irrigation they provide, however it has been proven that the dams cost more than they benefit. Also, breaching the dams can provide an opening for new sectors of efficient power such as wind and solar as well as jobs.
Twenty five years has already proven that the best chance for our Orcas survival will not happen unless we give our public backing to mobilize action from the government.
You can help make this happen with the next few minutes of your time.
(Links below)
How to help the Orca's
Sun Aug 5
J35 Tahlequah J50 Scarlet update
"The governor has asked the Orca Task Force to consider breaching the Snake River Dams and it is on the table for consideration."
-Tara Lee, Dep. Dir. Communications
Reported by King 5 news
CONTACT SENATOR PATTY MURRAY and SENATOR MARIA CANTWELL in support of breaching the Snake River Dams to BUILD PUBLIC BACKING before the MEETINGS on MONDAY and TUESDAY. Inslee has to have Senators representing the people to DC government on this.
Monday, multiple agencies ,considering intervention measures for emaciated J50 Scarlet , have a scheduled conference call to determine next steps.
Tuesday Gov. Inslee's Orca Task Force meets to formulate recommendations to restore salmon and orcas.
Our orcas story of near extinction going viral creates a rare opportunity for mass public awareness and support that will make the difference. When the story fades, the opportunity for mass public support also fades.
Every person's contact matters, they literally count how many people have contacted them directlyand the higher the count the higher the priority for senators action list.
Jim Waddell is currently campaigning for breaching the dams. He ran the dams for about 30 years for the Army Corps of Engineers, and has been campaigning to breach the dams for years since his retirement.
You can also copy and paste this message to share on social media.
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Your message can be brief, example: "I am calling/ writing to urge the senator to support breaching the Snake River Dams and to support all measures suggested by the Orca Task Force. Thank you. "
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Senator Patty Murray
Senator Patty Murray office phone numbers
Seattle (206) 563-5545
Everett (425) 259-6515
Tacoma (253) 572-3636
Yakima (509) 453-7462
Vancouver WA (360) 696-7797
Spokane (509) 624-9514
Online email form Senator Patty Murray
Senator Maria Cantwell phone:
Everett (425) 303-0144
Tacoma (253) 572-2281
Seattle (206) 220-6400
Richland (509) 946-8106
Vancouver WA (360) 696-7838
Spokane (509) 353-2507
Senator Maria Cantwell, online email form:
Additional information:
Within the United States, the Columbia-Snake River watershed is the most important source
of salmon for the Southern Resident orcas. For millennia the Southern Residents have depended on
Chinook salmon from this watershed, which once produced millions of Chinook annually,
supporting a rich ecosystem that included both killer whales and humans....
Over 50 large dams constructed on the rivers since 1933 are the major cause of salmon
declines in the watershed. Today, only a small fraction of the historic numbers of salmon return to
the watershed to spawn, reflecting high mortality of adults moving upstream and juveniles moving
downstream. Thirteen salmon and steelhead populations now face extinction and are listed under
the Endangered Species Act (ESA).5
The ESA requires the federal government to recover these
salmon species. For the Snake River in particular, both old and new research points in one direction
- the dams are a major cause of decline of the salmon runs.6
The four lower Snake River dams,
constructed in the 1960s and 1970s, are obstructing 140 miles of prime salmon migration
waterways. The dams also have inundated the lower Snake River fall Chinook salmon’s mainstem
spawning and rearing habitat. In 1992, both fall run and spring/summer-run Snake River Chinook
were listed as threatened under the ESA.7
By 1999 Columbia River fall Chinook were added to the
ESA list as threatened, while the spring-run Chinook, which had collapsed to near extinction,
warranted the highest listing as endangered. As the Columbia-Snake River salmon declined, so did
the orcas. By 2005 the Southern Resident killer whales had also earned the highest listing of
endangered....
source for the endangered Southern Resident orcas.
The recovery of Southern Resident Killer Whales depends on abundant salmon. This
will be impossible to provide in the near term, without restoring productivity to the ColumbiaSnake River watershed. Breaching the four lower Snake River dams is the quickest single
measure most likely to restore the abundant wild Chinook salmon runs the whales need to
recover. No other action under consideration has the potential to increase the SRKW population to
a level where they could be down-listed to threatened or removed from ESA completely.
Dr. Deborah Giles
Research Director
Center for Whale Research
of salmon for the Southern Resident orcas. For millennia the Southern Residents have depended on
Chinook salmon from this watershed, which once produced millions of Chinook annually,
supporting a rich ecosystem that included both killer whales and humans....
Over 50 large dams constructed on the rivers since 1933 are the major cause of salmon
declines in the watershed. Today, only a small fraction of the historic numbers of salmon return to
the watershed to spawn, reflecting high mortality of adults moving upstream and juveniles moving
downstream. Thirteen salmon and steelhead populations now face extinction and are listed under
the Endangered Species Act (ESA).5
The ESA requires the federal government to recover these
salmon species. For the Snake River in particular, both old and new research points in one direction
- the dams are a major cause of decline of the salmon runs.6
The four lower Snake River dams,
constructed in the 1960s and 1970s, are obstructing 140 miles of prime salmon migration
waterways. The dams also have inundated the lower Snake River fall Chinook salmon’s mainstem
spawning and rearing habitat. In 1992, both fall run and spring/summer-run Snake River Chinook
were listed as threatened under the ESA.7
By 1999 Columbia River fall Chinook were added to the
ESA list as threatened, while the spring-run Chinook, which had collapsed to near extinction,
warranted the highest listing as endangered. As the Columbia-Snake River salmon declined, so did
the orcas. By 2005 the Southern Resident killer whales had also earned the highest listing of
endangered....
source for the endangered Southern Resident orcas.
The recovery of Southern Resident Killer Whales depends on abundant salmon. This
will be impossible to provide in the near term, without restoring productivity to the ColumbiaSnake River watershed. Breaching the four lower Snake River dams is the quickest single
measure most likely to restore the abundant wild Chinook salmon runs the whales need to
recover. No other action under consideration has the potential to increase the SRKW population to
a level where they could be down-listed to threatened or removed from ESA completely.
Dr. Deborah Giles
Research Director
Center for Whale Research
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