"Whale watching. The very concept is absurd: Riding a big polycarbonate oil-and-bilge belcher out into the fragile Puget Sound ecosystem to enjoy and appreciate one of nature's most alluring, majestic beasts. It's one of those continuous, lather-rinse-repeat loops: The more you go out in search of the Northwest's truly rare wildlife, the more truly rare it gets -- and the more people want to seek it out. Stop the madness; just say no."  Ron Judd, Seattle Times Columnist

Orca Relief was the first organization to predict the decline in Southern Resident Whales, and the first to conduct research on what is killing those whales.

Our understanding, combining all of the studies done by us and others to date, is this:

In an environment of dwindling Chinook salmon, boat presence reduces hunt efficiency while increasing food requirements, accelerating starvation, which draws down toxin-laden blubber supplies, culminating in death.

We have funded three studies, each showing the contribution of boats to orca mortality. Specifically, the first showed a direct correlation with boat numbers present in times of dwindling salmon; the second showed the increase in food requirements required when boats are present; and the third showed a drastic reduction in orcas' ability to capture food using sonar in the presence of boat motors, even at distances allowed by whale watch guidelines in effect today. To see these research studies, click here.

The San Juan Islands, north of Puget Sound, Washington, are the year-round home of three pods, or family groups, of Orca whales. Over the past ten years, massive environmental changes have challenged the health and stability of the San Juan Orca population.  Scientists have found that this decrease is due to the presence of toxins in Puget Sound, low numbers of salmon for the whales to eat, and, most importantly, a burgeoning whale watch industry.

Land Based Whale Watching
At Lime Kiln Point State Park, a land based whale watch park in the San Juan Islands (WA), you can see orcas up close as they move along Haro Strait, sometimes even better than you can see them from a boat. For more information, click here, go to the Lime Kiln State Park website, or read a Seattle P-I Article on whale watching.

OFFICIAL REPORT now available for the Fourth International Orca Symposium and Workshop held in September 2002 in France!!! To access the report, click here.

Time To Act: Preserve San Juan Orca
By Mark Anderson, co-founder, The Whale Museum, and Executive Director, Orca Relief
The whales are dying. In the last few years, we have lost about 20% of our local Orca population. In the winter of 2001, in the first-ever sighting of our local whales south of the Columbia River, K and L pods traveled at least as far south as Monterey. Click here to read more.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
	February 23, 2009 - Puget Sound Maritime - Resident orcas on verge of collapse
	February 20, 2009 - Seattle Times - Resident orcas on verge of collapse
	December 16, 2008 - Island Guardian - The Southern Resident Orca Population Crashes In 2008: Starvation
	September 12, 2007 - San Juan Islander - County enacts killer whale protection ordinance
	June 6, 2006 - "Whale Watching" - streaming video from ABC News
	July 7, 2006 - ABC News - Too Close for Comfort: Orcas, Boats Struggle to Share Space
	May 9, 2006 - Associated Press - After Decades of Fear and Hostility, Are We Loving Orcas to Death?
	Oct 4, 2005 - Seattle PI - How to save Sound's orcas? Here's one plan
	Oct 4, 2005 - Seattle Times - Orcas need cleaner Sound, more salmon, scientists say
	Oct 3, 2005 - Associated Press - Proposed killer whale conservation plan released for comment
	Oct 1, 2005 - Press Release - ORCA Proposes Whale Weekends
	Sept 30, 2005 - San Juan Journal - Pimping wildlife for economic development
	May 22, 2005 - Vancouver Times Colonist - Luna "trapped" by wave of noise
	March 14, 2005 - Seattle PI Letter to the Editor - Northwest whales are in a fight for their survival
	March 10, 2005 - Now on state ferries: brochures discouraging whale-watch boat tours
	December 17, 2004 - Orcas' threatened designation has come too late, warn environmentalists
	December 16, 2004 - "Whale Harassment" - streaming audio from NPR
	September 20, 2004 - "Orca Concerns" - streaming video from CNN
	September 5, 2004 - Threatened by the throngs? Tourist boats bring attention (and maybe trauma) to orcas
	September 21, 2004 - Orcas under siege
	September 19, 2004 - Orcas' song fading?
View more articles in the Press Archive

Citizen Harassment Reports

Orca Harassment Reported off San Juan Island

Press Releases
	April 5, 2004 - Orca Relief Salutes Washington State for its Action
	June 1, 2002 - Are we loving our whales to death?

Relevant Legislation
Marine Mammal Protection Act