A Black And White Disappearance - By Chelsea Schroeder

~The Southern Resident Killer Whale      Recovery Plan~

~Summary Description and Ecology of Organism
- Orcinus orca, or killer whales, have captured the hearts of people around the world due to their large size, distinctive markings and family-oreinted character. They are taxonomically considered dolphins because they are members of the family Delphinidae (ecos. fws. gov). These social mammals are found in all of the oceans in the world and migrate frequently.

~Geographic and Population Changes
-The Southern Resident killer whale population consists of three pods named J, K, and L pod. These pods spend part of the year (late spring, summer, and fall) in the inland waterways of Washington State and British Columbia (Bigg 1982, Ford 2000, Krahn 2002).

~Listing Date and Type of Listing
-Southern Resident killer whales were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on November 18, 2005 (70 FR 69903). The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) listed the killer whale stock as "below an optimum sustainable population," and under the Marine Mammal Protection Act they are listed as depleted as of May 2003 (68 FR 31980). They are listed as an "E" classification.

~Cause of Listing and Main Threats to its Continued Existence 
-Southern Resident killer whales experienced an almost 20 percent decline from 1996 to 2001. The main threats to their continued existence include pollution/contamination, vessel effects, and oil spills. Another large threat to the whales is a decrease in their food source. A decline in Chinook salmon has many biologists thinking that this may be a cause of the whales decline (nwfsc.noaa.gov).

~Description of Recovery Plan 
-The recovery plan tries to address every issue that is causing the decline in the Southern killer whale population. These measures include supporting prey availability, addressing pollution and contamination issues, acoustic effects, attending to the sick, stranded and injured killer whales, and enhancing public awareness through education and outreach methods.

                               -A pod of Southern Resident Killer Whales



~Sources: 

-Bigg, M. 1982. An assessment of killer whale (Orcinus orca) stocks off Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Report of the International Whaling Commission 32:655-666.

-Ford, J. K. B., G. M. Ellis, and K. C. Balcomb. 2000. Killer whales: the natural history and genealogy of Orcinus orca in British Columbia and Washington State. 2nd ed. UBC Press, Vancouver, British Columbia.

-Krahn, M. M., P. R. Wade, S. T. Kalinowski, M. E. Dahlheim, B. L. Taylor, M. B. Hanson, G. M. Ylitalo, R. P. Angliss, J. E. Stein, and R. S. Waples. 2002. Status review of southern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) under the Endangered Species Act. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NWFSC- 54, U.S. Department of Commerce, Seattle, Washington.

-http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/whale_killer.pdf

-http://www.montereybaywhalewatch.com/ResidentKillerWhales/ResidentKillerWhales20080127NB1.htm

-http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/news/features/killer_whale/index.cfm