Oregon Orcas Gain New Protections

By Isobel Charle, Public News Service

Oregon’s endangered southern resident orca population has gained new protections with the approval of three Endangered Species Management Plans.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission has approved the plans to reduce threats to this population of iconic black-and-white whales, whose habitat ranges from Monterey, California, north to the Puget Sound of Washington state.

Colin Reynolds, senior adviser of Northwest programs for the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife, said the group started petitioning for a state-level endangerment listing two years ago.

“Over decades, a lot of really devoted scientists, government agencies and others have really looked into the species and identified what’s affecting the species, and a lot of those effects originate on land,” Reynolds pointed out. “It does really take that all-of-the-above approach.”

Southern resident orca feed almost exclusively on Chinook salmon, which are also endangered. Along with a loss of food, Reynolds noted the whale’s population is declining due to pollution and engine noise, which interferes with their communication. The last count found just 73 of the species remain.

The next step, Reynolds stressed, is for the Oregon Legislature to fund and implement the recovery plans.

Research continues to reveal the remarkable capacities of orcas, Reynolds noted, from their complex communication, emotion and memory to a new behavior documented just this year.

“Scientists published research showing that southern residents groom each other using kelp that they modified,” Reynolds underscored. “That’s the first time researchers have documented a marine mammal making tools.”

The federal government introduced a recovery plan for orcas in 2008 and renewed the most recent 5-year priority action plan in 2021. The Southern resident orcas are known to have their own dialects and culture, with distinctions between pods.