Series:

Themes from the 2022 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

About the series

Stories exploring major research themes presented during the virtual 2022 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference.

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Latest story posted: 8/31/2022

Related stories

DFO photo of orca J35 known as Tahlequah pushing her calf on Aug. 8, 2018, off Cape Flattery, Wash. Photo by Sara Tavares, Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Four years after Tahlequah's journey, the legal and ethical debates over orca protection continue to evolve

It has been four summers since a mother orca’s dramatic vigil brought worldwide attention to the plight of Puget Sound’s southern resident killer whales. A recent gathering of legal experts, conservationists, and academic scholars looked at how perceptions of the whales have changed since then and whether laws and policies should reflect new thinking about ethical responsibilities to orcas and other animals. 


Mammals, Killer whales, Salish Sea Currents magazine, Species of concern

A killer whale with a digital acoustic recording tag swimming in Puget Sound . Photo: NOAA/NWFSC (taken under NOAA research permit No.781-1824 and 16163).

Placing microphones on orcas offers a point-of-whale perspective on underwater noise

Research on the sounds and feeding behavior of Puget Sound's southern resident orcas is providing new insight into how the whales respond to underwater noise. A recent online conference brought together some of these findings along with discussions on how to reduce the impacts of noise from vessel traffic.


Mammals, Marine habitat, Salish Sea, Noise, Killer whales, Species of concern, Salish Sea Currents magazine