The Southern Residents need an abundant and widely available distribution of Chinook salmon throughout the year, in the entire extent of their range, not just in the fraction that federal agencies have designated as summer critical habitat. Each matriline further shares a set of calls.

Critically endangered and faced with a multitude of threats, and now without their venerated leader, this population of killer whales lives on the brink of extinction.

Rubbing Beaches. By listening to the calls, trained researchers can identify which pods are in the area and can even identify specific members of a pod. In 2005, the Southern Resident Orcas were designated as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act, and they are one of the most critically endangered marine mammals in the United States. The public fishery is one of the most iconic and traditional pastimes in BC – a part of our shared heritage that also attracts visitors from around the world and provides revenues to coastal communities at a minimal impact to resources. Today, they eat more than 31 million Chinook every year.

THE PUBLIC FISHERY IS A VITAL PART OF BC’S HISTORY, HERITAGE, AND ECONOMY. Granny may be gone, but her library of knowledge was passed on to her family, and they’ll continue to visit the Columbia River in search salmon, remembering the once vast quantities like an echo from the past. Vote for your choice by commenting on their page (not on ours :) It's a quick turnaround, 24 hours to weigh in. Resident orcas forage together and practice prey-sharing; sharing what they catch with other pod members. BC’s public fishing community has always played a strong role in conserving and protecting our environment, and always will. Learn more about …

The Northern Resident Orca population is listed as threatened. Thousands of British Columbian families rely on the public fishery for employment, income and food.

In a cynical effort to push a political agenda targeting a broad range of local industries and communities, a well-funded media campaign is being waged against British Columbians who enjoy sport fishing and who depend on it for their livelihoods.

The Southern Resident killer whales are starving to death. Northern residents routinely visit the rubbing beaches of Robson Bight (Michael Bigg Ecological Reserve) during the summer.

today there are 72 southern resident killer whales. National Geographic Headquarters 1145 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20036, National Geographic Society is a 501 (c)(3) organization.

The factors influencing growth and decline are complicated and varied.

Northern Resident orcas live in tightly bound family units called pods, and stay with their mothers and siblings for their entire lives.

NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources - Killer WhaleWild Whales - Killer WhaleAmerican Cetacean Society - Killer Whale.

To save the salmon, we must restore access to that pristine, protected wilderness behind the lower Snake River dams. It is the only killer whale population listed under the Endangered Species Act by the National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. By the time the captures were stopped, more than one third of the total resident orca population had been removed. Recently, every year has been a lean year, and the Southern Resident whales have been spread far and wide in search of salmon, but Granny was always in the lead.

Of these, only two survive. The habitat they were returning to, thousands of miles of wilderness and cold, spring-fed rivers and streams, is still in excellent condition. And we can focus more efforts on enhancing salmon stocks, rather than unnecessarily restricting public fishery opportunities, so that both whales and British Columbians can benefit.

BC’s SKRW population has been both larger and smaller than it is today.