Bill Arthur, Vice Chair Conservation Committee & Salmon/Orca Campaign Coordinator

In late May, a calf was born to the J-Pod, the second newborn since January.  With only 77 orca left and no recent successful births in the last several years, these calves have provided a badly-needed ray of hope for these iconic animals.  We hope that their arrival signals a chance to restore a healthy population, but it is a cautious optimism. We are not out of the woods yet. The first year is the most perilous for baby orca, with only about a 50% survival rate historically.  But the birth of these calves underlines the importance of providing sufficient food, like Chinook salmon, for our orca. Focusing on restoring salmon abundance, particularly in the Snake River, is now more critical than ever.

Despite the good news for our Southern Resident orca, there is mixed news for salmon this year.  But firstly, we must applaud the Washington state legislature for approving funding for implementing higher spill levels on the Snake and Columbia River dams.  This will help more young salmon survive as they migrate from the headwaters to the ocean. The legislature also provided funding for the Snake River stakeholder process. This will convene a forum of key stakeholders to assess and address the impacts to affected communities, if the lower Snake River dams were to be removed. The forum is important because scientists have established that rebuilding Snake River salmon runs is critical to saving our orca. It is also being considered as part of the court-ordered draft environmental impact statement being done by the federal agencies. We expect that draft environmental analysis to be published in February 2020.

Even with this ray of hope, Southern Resident Orca continue to swim at the brink of extinction, especially in light of the news regarding the dismal salmon returns this year.  As of June 12, only 66,668 spring Chinook salmon made it past Bonneville dam on the Columbia River--that is only about a third of the ten year average return at this date and even worse than last year’s poor return.  The forecast for Sockeye salmon is equally poor. It is clear we need stronger actions, including removing the four lower Snake River dams if we are to restore the once-abundant salmon runs of the Snake River and its tributaries.

To learn how you can get involved, please join our Northwest Species Action Team.

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 Photo by Scott Goodwill on Unsplash