Orca Archives - Seattle Aquarium

Join us to support quieter waters for orcas

Posted on February 6, 2023February 9, 2024 by Emma Leiser

From late October to early January—for the first time—many large ships in Washington waters slowed down for orcas.

How does this help whales? Slower vessels make less noise. When the waters are quieter, endangered Southern Resident orcas have an easier time communicating with each other and echolocating to find and catch scarce salmon. Slow-moving vessels are also less likely to hit a whale, and as a bonus for the climate, the ships’ greenhouse gas emissions decrease.

A promising partnership

The voluntary ship slowdown was made possible by a new program called Quiet Sound—a collaborative effort involving government agencies, the shipping industry, the U.S. military, tribal groups, environmental organizations like the Seattle Aquarium and the scientific community—and modeled after a successful program in British Columbia, Canada. The Washington waters trial encouraged vessel operators to reduce their speed in designated transit areas to targets of 11 or 14.5 knots, depending on vessel type. The result? Twenty nautical miles of a quieter, better protected habitat for orcas and other wildlife.

Quiet Sound’s strong start

Week to week, between 46% and 69% of ships slowed down—a remarkable participation rate for a brand new, voluntary initiative.
The slowdown window overlapped with three-quarters of the days the Southern Residents were in Puget Sound in 2022.

An opportunity to do more

To continue and even expand this work, Quiet Sound needs additional funding from the Washington state legislature. This legislative session, the Seattle Aquarium is supporting a $700,000 two-year request in Olympia to do just that.

But large ships are just one source of underwater noise. This legislative session, we also have an opportunity to reduce noise from smaller recreational boats. Senate Bill 5371/ House Bill 1145 reflects the latest science-based recommendations from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to create a 1,000-yard buffer around the endangered orcas for all small boats (except active commercial fishing and tribal fishing boats and permitted research boats). This simplifies currently complex regulations and reflects the latest science from NOAA, showing that a Southern Resident orca’s chance of catching a salmon is dramatically reduced when boats are moving at any speed within 1.5 km (1,640 yards). The bill also reduces the cost of a commercial whale-watching license, and boaters would not see any changes in what is allowed for viewing other whale species. The Seattle Aquarium supports this legislation, and we hope you will raise your voice with us.

Ready to help orcas?

Contact your Washington state legislators and ask them to support two initiatives to reduce noise impacts on orcas: funding for Quiet Sound and Senate Bill 5371/ House Bill 1145. Call the toll-free legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000 (TTY for hearing impaired 800-833-6388) between 8am and 7pm, Monday through Friday, to leave a message for all three of your legislators at once.
Observe Be Whale Wise regulations and guidelines, at a minimum, when boating and try to give the endangered orcas even more space. That’ll make it easier for them to forage successfully.
Learn where to watch whales from shore: There are amazing spots around the region!
Report whale sightings so mariners can receive alerts when whales are in the area and take action to avoid them. You can report through Orca Network, the WhaleReport app (on Apple and Android) or the Whale Alert app (on Apple and Android).

For more orca inspiration, check out our short film Stories from the Salish Sea: Eba and the Orcas if you haven’t already! That webpage also has ideas for how you can take action to reduce toxic pollution, which will help increase salmon available for the orcas to eat—vital for their recovery.

Help protect endangered orcas from ship strikes

Posted on June 16, 2021February 9, 2024 by Emma Leiser

The Seattle Aquarium works on policies to reduce noise and disturbance impacts on the endangered southern resident orcas, which currently number only 75. Quieter waters will make it easier for the orcas to communicate with each other and find scarce salmon, while we all work to restore habitat so that those salmon are more abundant.

We have supported new requirements for slow-speed zones and vessel distance, measures to reduce oil spill risk, and state funding for the Quiet Sound program to encourage large ships to voluntarily slow down, and we’ve asked the Navy to do more to mitigate the potential impacts of sonar testing on the orcas. The Seattle Aquarium is also one of the shore-based marine mammal viewing spots along the Whale Trail.

But there is more that we can do to make the waters safer for the endangered orcas, and we invite you to join us in taking action when you’re outside this summer and beyond.

When ships collide with whales and dolphins, it can cause serious injury and even death. But with timely warnings, shipmasters and pilots can slow down the ship, alter course, increase vigilance or turn off their sounders to reduce disturbance and the risk of hitting a whale. Using the WhaleReport app, we can all help ensure that ship captains know when whales are in their vicinity.

The WhaleReport Alert System (WRAS) was developed in Canada by Ocean Wise and its partners, and a few years ago Governor Inslee’s Orca Task Force recommended expanding it to Washington waters. The WRAS has already delivered over 8,000 alerts to ship operators in Canada and Washington. But the platform needs more real-time sightings reports, especially from here in Washington, to be as effective as possible.

Here’s how you can help!

If you spot a whale, dolphin, porpoise or sea turtle—from shore, a ferry or a boat—report it via WhaleReport as soon as possible (in addition to any reporting you’d normally do to a local sightings network). It only takes a couple of minutes, and there are two ways you can do it:

Fill out the short form at report.wildwhales.org. (The first time you go to the page, it will ask for your details.* If you are on your personal computer, you can ask the browser to store your information so that you only need to enter this information once.)

Use the WhaleReport app, available for download on iOS and Android smartphones.

Note that sightings data reported to the WhaleReport Alert System is only shared with the operators of large ships, tugs, ferries and government agencies. The data is not available for public use. The Whale Museum is responsible for data collection in Washington state and also uses the reports for conservation-oriented research.

If you would like to learn more about how the system works, visit wildwhales.org/wras.

Thank you for taking action to protect marine wildlife!

*Ocean Wise researchers will only use your contact information to ask you any follow-up questions regarding your sighting reports to aid in our research efforts and will not contact you for any promotional reasons. Your details are protected under Ocean Wise’s Privacy Policy.

Reducing oil spill risk to protect otters, orcas and more

Posted on May 5, 2021February 9, 2024 by Emma Leiser

Fossil fuels pose a huge risk to the health of our oceans. When we burn fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas, more carbon dioxide goes into the atmosphere. As the ocean absorbs some of these emissions, the chemistry of the seawater changes. Ocean waters that are more acidic dissolve shells and coral skeletons and make it hard for animals to form new shells. These changes, along with ocean warming and other climate change impacts, harm marine ecosystems and the people who rely on them for their food, livelihoods and well-being.

The transportation of fossil fuels and the accompanying potential for oil spills threaten the waters of the Salish Sea every day. There are proposed projects that would further increase oil handling in Washington state, along with the chance of devastating oil spills from trains, tankers and barges. In a 2019 count by Friends of the San Juans, there were 25 proposed new, expanding or recently completed terminal and refinery projects, which would add 4,232 more vessel transits every year to and from ports in Washington state and British Columbia.

Some types of oil are light and float on saltwater, spreading out very rapidly and making the oil easily accessible to seabirds and mammals at the water’s surface. Other kinds of oils are heavy and sink, causing problems for fish and organisms on the seafloor. Animals are hurt when they inhale oil as they surface to breathe or swallow oil as they try to clean themselves. When birds’ feathers or mammals’ fur get coated in oil, it also undermines their insulation, making it difficult for them to maintain the right body temperature. Oil and gas transport in marine waterways is listed among the primary threats to the sea otter population. And it is estimated that an oil spill of 2,000,000–4,000,000 gallons may kill up to half of the remaining endangered southern resident orcas (1).

Many Seattle Aquarium staff have the federal and local training required to safely handle and care for wild marine animals in the event of an oil spill. Three of our staff are also trainers and provide annual Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER-24) classes in the region with a focus on oiled wildlife response.

But we must do more than prepare for the eventuality of a catastrophic oil spill in the Salish Sea. Fossil fuels must be phased out to protect the health of our ocean and the marine species that call it home. The Seattle Aquarium has begun engaging with partners in the Stand Up to Oil coalition, a group of organizations committed to protecting Pacific Northwest communities from the health, safety and environmental threats of oil infrastructure and transport.

Over the last few months, we have raised our voice to oppose new fossil fuel infrastructure in Washington state and ensure that oil spill risks to endangered species are explicitly considered in project-approval processes. These efforts have included:

Opposing the Kalama methanol refinery: We joined many other organizations and communities in urging the Washington Department of Ecology to deny a proposal to build and operate a methanol refinery along the Columbia River in Kalama, Washington. The project would have resulted in significant greenhouse gas emissions for the next 40 years at all points in the process—from fracking and piping the gas to its conversion to liquid methanol and then to plastics or fuel, and then the burning of that fuel. In a huge win for the health of our ocean and climate, the Department of Ecology rejected this proposal in January 2021.
Ensuring better planning for oil spill risk: We have asked the Department of Ecology to require updates to oil spill contingency plans to better reduce the risk of oil spills to the endangered orcas.
Expressing concerns about oil terminal expansion: There is a proposal to expand the SeaPort Sound bulk oil terminal. We asked the City of Tacoma to closely examine potential harm to the sensitive intertidal and marine ecosystems of the Salish Sea.
Preparing for new rules for fossil fuels: This summer, the Washington Department of Ecology will develop rules for evaluating any new fossil fuel project proposals. This is an opportunity to ensure the Department of Ecology applies the best available science and social equity considerations in future permitting decisions. Be on the lookout for an upcoming action alert to help hold coal, oil and gas projects accountable for the air pollution they create.

We invite you to join the Seattle Aquarium in speaking up for the health of our ocean and climate! Get breaking news and urgent action alerts by subscribing to our policy email list.

(1) Lacy, R.C., Williams, R., Ashe, E. et al. Evaluating anthropogenic threats to endangered killer whales to inform effective recovery plans. Sci Rep 7, 14119 (2017).