Speak Up Now to Establish Whale Protection Zone

— from Stephanie Buffum —

[On] March 1, our local San Juan County Marine Resources Committee (MRC) wants to hear from citizens about whether it should facilitate a community conversation about a proposed whale protection zone. We need to show up and tell them – Yes. If you can’t attend the meeting, please send in your email today.

Where: 8:30 a.m. in the County Council Hearing Room (55 Second St., Friday Harbor).

Email: Arnie Klaus, MRC coordinator mrc@sanjuanco.com

Why do 78 individual Southern Resident Killer Whales need an Orca Protection Zone?

The 78 critically endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales are in trouble. (10% fewer than when they were listed on the endangered species list in 2005). They continue to suffer from multiple threats, including:

• lack of salmon (their preferred food),
• contamination from everyday chemicals that find their way into the food chain,
• the threat of an oil spill,
• and excessive noise that interferes with their communication and foraging.

We need to do everything we can to help the orcas recover (tear down the lower Snake River dams? Absolutely! Use fewer pollutants? You bet!).

The protection zone was requested last November by three organizationsthat petitioned the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish an area similar to one NOAA had proposed in 2009 (during the same process that resulted in the 200-yard approach and 400-yard parking-in-the-path limitations). On January 12, 2017,NOAA published a notice inviting input on the proposal.

• Tomorrow, we need to tell our local MRC that Orca deserve our support and protection. Arnie Klaus, MRC coordinator mrc@sanjuanco.com.

Then

• If you think that NOAA should start a process to adopt a whale protection zone, and you have ideas about its location, size, and rules, then comment here by April 13, 2017.

For more information, you can visit the federal register page with NOAA’s notice about the petition.