The primary food source for the Southern Resident orcas is salmon. In fact, approximately 80-90% of a Resident orca’s diet is composed of these fish. A National Marine Fisheries Service study in March 2010 found that orca whales consume a specific species, the Chinook salmon. Also known as King or Tyee salmon, the Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawystscha) stocks originate in rivers from central California to northwest Alaska. These salmon are anadromous, which means that they spend the majority of their life in the ocean but return to their natal freshwater streams to spawn, or reproduce. Chinook are typically the largest…

Pacific smelt, a small silvery fish also known as eulachon or candlefish, has been listed by NOAA as a threatened species due to declining populations. Pacific smelt was a staple of the Northwest American Indian tribes when the Lewis and Clark expedition arrived on the west coast in 1806. Lewis was impressed enough with smelt as a food source while spending the winter on the Oregon coast that he drew a picture of the fish in his journal. Historically, their numbers were so abundant one could literally ‘rake’ them out of the rivers. Times have changed. “The tribe just had…

New Births for the Resident San Juan Islands’ Orca Whales! In a little over a year, things have gone from bleak to “more promising” for the Northwest’s endangered killer whales. The Center For Whale Research says that in 2008, eight Orcas in the three pods, J, K, and L, that make up the southern resident population in Washington and southwest British Columbia went missing and were presumed dead.  This included two females of reproductive age and the 98-year-old- matriarch of K Pod. Among the three pods there was only one surviving birth that year. This dropped the total of the…