Local Companies Donate $24,000 to Orca and Salmon Conservation

— from Brian Goodremont —

San Juan Safaris and San Juan Island Outfitters, two local whale watch and sea kayak tour companies, are giving back to killer whale and salmon conservation and research. As highlighted by the recent decline in the Southern Resident Killer Whale population, the commitment to conservation through salmon restoration is even more critical.

By choosing San Juan Safaris and San Juan Island Outfitters for their whale watch and sea kayak tour experience, guests contribute to the conservation effort. For every tour ticket sold, $1 was donated to orca and salmon conservation. All donations were collected as a Conservation Fee per each ticket sold. Since the inception of the Conservation Fund in 2015, San Juan Safaris and San Juan Island Outfitters have donated over $24,000 to three organizations: The Center for Whale Research, Save Our Wild Salmon, and Long Live the Kings as well as smaller local to The Whale Museum, San Juan County Land Bank, San Juan Preservation Trust, and the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea.

The Center for Whale Research is a non-profit that monitors the Southern Resident Community of Killer Whales (SRKWs) through photo identification and observations, which are listed as endangered under the Federal Endangered Species Act. Save Our Wild Salmon is a nationwide coalition of organizations working to restore healthy populations of wild salmon, the SRKWs’ main food source, to river systems on the Pacific Northwest through dam removal and restoration, with their main efforts focused on the Columbia and Snake River Basins. Long Live the Kings is a non-profit organization working towards restoring wild steelhead and salmon populations through education and outreach, and by creating effective wild habitat management programs.

Brian Goodremont, business owner of San Juan Safaris and San Juan Island Outfitters, says that “after careful research and consultation with government and non-governmental organizations, we have determined that these three recipients of the Conservation Fund would have the greatest ability to make the largest positive impact on the overall health of the Southern Resident Killer Whales and their recovery through research and salmon restoration.”
About San Juan Safaris and San Juan Island Outfitters

San Juan Safaris is a whale watch and wildlife tour company based in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, WA. Founded in 1996, San Juan Safaris provides tours focusing on respectful wildlife viewing, education, and conservation efforts. San Juan Safaris offers whale watch and wildlife tours by motorized vessel February through November. Their sister company, San Juan Island Outfitters, offers three- and five-hour professionally guided sea kayak tours, as well as overnight kayak-camping excursions, and recreational water craft rentals.

Both San Juan Safaris and San Juan Island Outfitters are owned and operated by Brian and Rachel Goodremont. The Goodremont family has called San Juan Island home since 2002, and live and work on San Juan Island full time, raising their two children while running their small family farm.

For more information, visit www.SanJuanSafaris.com and www.SanJuanIslandOutfitters.com. Staff can be reached at 800.450.6858.