SEATTLE — An orca species unique to the Northwest and closely connected to indigenous populations is struggling to survive. 

The Southern Resident Killer Whales, or SRKW, currently have a population of 74 whales -- a number expected to drop by one in the upcoming census, according to the Orca Conservancy. 

Southern Residents have struggled due to the loss of Chinook salmon population and pollutants in the waters they call home, but whale rounds-up of the 60s and 70s were the first issue to have a negative impact on the population.

Local tribes consider the Southern Resident orcas family, Raynell Morris said, and are impacted by the same issues the resident orcas face.

"They're starving for salmon. We're starving for salmon. They're unhealthy because of the water. We're unhealthy because of the water," Morris said. “And now we're at an all-time point of extinction for them as a population, as a people, as our relatives."

The Lummi tribal elder uses a spot at Cherry Point Beach overlooking the Strait of Georgia to pray and connect with her ancestors. Directly behind the beach is an ancient burial spot of the Lummi people. However, the prayers here include non-human relatives too.

"We love you. We know you're starving. We hear you," Morris repeated.

The start of the Southern Residents' decline

The SRKW is made up of three families. The J, K and L pods. L pod is the largest family with 34 orcas today. J pod includes 25 and K pod has just 15.

The decline in numbers began in the 1960s as Southern Residents were picked out of the waters of Puget Sound. Some of the first organized captures were led by Ted Griffin and his team from the Seattle Public Aquarium.

"It was completely legal. Permits were issued," said Michael Weiss, a research director for the Center for Whale Research.

Capturers corralled the orcas with speed boats and even used bombs. They ensnared some in nets. 

From the 1960s to mid-1970s, hundreds of whales were captured in Washington and British Columbia waters.

"Southern Residents in terms of number of whales and impact on population were really hit the hardest," Weiss said.

At least 11 died during captures and 36 were taken into captivity at marine parks. Specifically young orcas were targeted, including Tokitae. By 1987, known as Lolita at the Miami Seaquarium, she was the sole survivor of the orcas captured in Puget Sound. She died in 2023.

“Those captures were targeted. Not random. It’s not that a third of the population is randomly removed. It’s a generation of killer whales is removed," Weiss said.

That means today, the Southern Residents are missing post reproductive females over the age or 40 or 50. With that loss comes a lack of knowledge of how to find food and catch, especially when there aren't a lot of fish around. 

Missing that generation of grandmothers could have a huge impact, Weiss said.

Tracking the population

Canadian Dr. Michael Bigg was the first to photo-identify wild whales population size and family structure, according to whale researchers. Bigg started the practice in the 1970s to get a more accurate account of killer whale populations.

“At the time the wisdom was there were hundreds and hundreds of killer whales,  because they were seeing them all the time," Weiss said. "We started to realize there’s not hundreds of hundreds of whales. We're seeing them over and over again.”

Weiss’ team at the Center for Whale Research started tracking the Southern Resident population in 1976.

At the time, 71 orcas remained. Researchers estimate there may have been 100-120 before the captures began.

"It really took a Washington state level bit of legislation to say there would be no more killer whale captures in the state," Weiss said.

Slowly the Southern Resident population rebounded to 98 by 1994.

Scientists believe that happened over a period of time the orcas' food supply -- 80% of which is Chinook salmon -- was plentiful. 

An endangered species

However, Chinook stock has declined for decades and the salmon were classified as endangered in 1994. Some populations have decreased by as much as 90% since the early 20th century. 

Weiss said a degradation of spawning rivers, increase in ocean temperatures and pollutants have all negatively impacted Chinook populations.

"When there's more Chinook, the whales survive better. It's really that simple," said Weiss.

So it's not surprising that the Southern Residents received the 'endangered' designation in 2005. That categorization protects the orcas in part by putting policies in place to encourage conservationism.

"So, you've got one endangered species relying on another endangered species to survive," Weiss said.

Many organizations have joined Morris and the Lummi nation in trying to save the Northwest’s beloved whales.

"We don't have anymore time. It's now. It's that urgent. It's that critical. It has to happen now," Morris said.

It's urgent because other human-caused factors are preventing the Southern Residents from thriving today. Tuesday on KING 5, the Environment Northwest team explores the impact of pollutants and other health challenges for Southern Residents.

SEATTLE — “If we do nothing, I think we will lose this population forever.” 

That’s what Rob Williams, co-founder of nonprofit Oceans Initiative, said about the Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW).

A recent report published by Williams and 16 other scientists details the accelerated decline of the endangered killer whales. 

“I think the first problem is that you have to quantify how big the problem is. And it takes decades of science to be able to say on average, in a good salmon year, the whale population recovers this much. In a bad salmon year, they decline this much,” said Williams, explaining why the numbers are so important. 

What it would take for the SRKW population to grow

Currently, there are 74 Southern Resident Killer Whales, which has been declining steadily. To lower the species' endangered status a threshold was set of 2.3% growth per year for 28 years. Instead, over the last 40 years, the population has seen a decline of 1.5% per year.

Williams estimated that the 1.5% decline per year will continue for the next one to two generations, then accelerate to 3% per year after that. 

The report details the speed at which these orcas realistically can reproduce and show how difficult it will be to increase the population. 

Of the 74 orcas living today, approximately a dozen females are able to reproduce and are carrying the future of the population. With a gestation period of 17 months, those 12 female orcas would likely have a calf every 3-5 years. 

However, about half of calves die and older whales are also dying each year, so in reality growth is a slow process. 

Williams said if the population can grow to 80-90 whales in the next 50 years, experts will breathe a sigh of relief. 

“So we have to manage our expectation that we didn’t get into this situation overnight and it will take a long, long time for us to recover,” said Williams.

What needs to change to stop the decline

He said action needs to be taken now to correct the three big factors that are contributing to the decline: lack of food, specifically Chinook salmon; noise interfering with the orcas' hunting abilities; and contaminants in the water and food impacting their health.

Leaders have taken steps to try to combat some of these problems. 

On January 1, 2025, a new law will go into effect in Washington that requires at least 1,000 yards of distance between boaters and orcas. 

Williams said other options to improve conditions for Southern Residents could involve reducing the Chinook salmon harvest, increasing hatchery production or scaling back Chinook salmon fishing in the open ocean to leave them for the orcas. 

Tara Galuska with the Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office also points out to the November’s ballot, when voters will be asked whether or not to repeal the Climate Commitment Act. While the push for overturning the act stems from a goal of keeping gas prices low, Galuska said if it is repealed, millions of dollars that benefit salmon rehabilitation will be lost. 

A document from the governor’s office breaks down the environmental benefits of the Climate Commitment Act, which includes more than $360 million in investments, many in direct salmon projects, but most others also benefit salmon. 

The list of those projects includes:

• $50 million for tribal climate adaptation grants 
• $60 million for protection grants for rivers and wetlands 
• $50.9 million for supporting local government planning related to climate change 
• $52.3 million for fish passage projects 
• $25 million for the Quinault Tribe Legacy Forest Acquisition 
• $23 million forest management treatments on state trust lands 
• $44 million for salmon habitat and climate resilience projects 
• $17.6 million for reduction of flooding and improving salmon habitat with "Floodplain by Design" grants 
• $11 million for the Conservation Reserve Enhancement program 
• $10.1 million for Puget Sound acquisition and restoration 
• $10 million for Firewise grants to local governments 
• $10 million for wildfire restoration on state, private and tribal lands 
• $18.8 million to revitalize the Trust Land Transfer program 
• $7 million for Deschutes Estuary restoration 
• $5.5 million for Climate Plus grants for schools 
• $4.5 million for a new Climate Corps workforce training program for young adults and veterans 

Leaders in the orca recovery space all agree: action needs to be taken now to save this population.

VANCOUVER, BC — Plans are underway by to airlift a stranded killer whale calf out of a remote tidal lagoon off northern Vancouver Island in an effort to reunite the young orca with its extended family, Canadian authorities said Wednesday.

Canadian Fisheries Department and First Nations officials said the plan involves placing the 2-year-old calf into a sling, lifting it out of the lagoon by helicopter and putting it in a net pen in the ocean while they wait for its family pod to be near before release.

Rescuers have been unable to coax the young whale out of the area since its pregnant mother was stranded at low tide in the lagoon and died March 23.

The plan was agreed to during a meeting between members of the Ehattesaht First Nation council, Fisheries Department officials and marine technical experts.

Ehattesaht First Nation Chief Simon John said his people have deep cultural and spiritual connections to orcas and the nation has been receiving calls of concern and support from around the world.

Paul Cottrell, a marine mammal coordinator with the Fisheries Department, said the rescue could occur within days, but more likely within the next two weeks.

SEATTLE — A new scientific study published this week said there are "warning signs" indicating that the Southern Resident orcas extinction risk is accelerating rapidly.

The study, which was published Tuesday in "Nature," found that the Southern Resident population has been declining by about one whale per year. There are 74 Southern Resident orcas alive right now, but researchers predict less than two dozen will be left within a century.

Rob Williams, chief scientist and co-founder of Ocean's Initiative, said the root causes of the orca population decline can be connected to "unsustainable" live capture fishing in the 1970s and 1980s, which limited the salmon population, too much noise and habitat destruction.

Researchers said warming river and ocean water is disrupting the chinook salmon population, the orca's primary food source.

"There's just not enough salmon," Williams said. "(And) there's too much noise, which makes it harder for the whales to find the salmon. And when they do find their salmon, it's full of PCBs and contaminants that are stored in their blubber, and that's actually causing calves to die."

Williams said researchers found seven years ago that Southern Resident orcas need 30% more salmon and 50% less noise for the population to bounce back. Through efforts by Vancouver and Seattle, slowing down ships has reduced noise by almost 50%, according to Williams. 

But now, Williams said, new studies suggest orcas will need to eat more salmon than previously suggested to thrive.

"It's going to take a little bit of everything but what's interesting is that this population is not dying because of a hunt or a harvest," Williams said. "They're not being struck by ships. They're not being entangled in fishing gear. We're losing them through a death by 1,000 cuts. And a good friend and colleague said: the solution to the death by 1,000 cuts is 1,000 band-aids. Where are we going to find 1,000 band-aids? Where are we going to find a few more salmon in Alaska in B.C., in Washington state, Oregon to California? Where can we get them a little bit more? More food and quiet enough conditions to hunt them in?"

According to the study, researchers have charted six different trajectories for the Southern Resident population in the next 100 years. 

The most optimistic projection – labeled "road to recovery" in the chart below – shows the orcas' population rising from 74 in 2024 to over 200 in the next century.

But the most pessimistic projection – labeled "worst case" – would mean the Southern Resident population would be extinct in 50 years. 

Meanwhile, the current trajectory, according to the study, indicates the orca population will drop below two dozen animals in the next 100 years – if mitigating measures to help the animals are not taken. 

Southern Resident orca population projections over the next 100 years

Williams said salmon restoration is a key part of the researchers' focus, but it is not the end-all-be-all solution to save the orcas from extinction.  

The authors of the study said it may be time for drastic interventions, like vaccinating orcas, mandatory ocean noise limits, and changing fishery regulations.

"All hope is not lost," Williams said. "It is not too late to save this population. It's just that we only have about a generation left to turn it around. So we can save them, but it will require all hands on deck, and it will require a heavier lift than it would have had we acted 50 years ago, but we can do it."

Even as the warning signs signal a potentially dire future for the Southern Resident orcas, Williams said there is enough time to reverse the trends that have pushed the animals to the risk of extinction. 

"I think you know anyone who lives here cannot imagine a Pacific Northwest without Southern Resident killer whales, and I can't either," Williams said. "The good news is that we don't have to imagine it. It is possible to save them, but it's going to require us acting on all of the information quickly and boldly and aggressively and now."