A coalition of conservation groups from Canada and the U.S. is calling on the Canadian government to take immediate action to protect Southern Resident killer whales.
Ecojustice sent a petition to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Minister of Environment and Climate Change today (Tues) requesting the Ministers push Cabinet to issue an emergency order to address 3 key threats to the Southern Resident killer whales.
Those are: Acting to increase the availability of Chinook salmon for the Southern Residents; Limiting physical and acoustic disturbance from ships that interfere with the whales' ability to communicate and hunt, And completing identification and legal protection of their critical habitat.
The Southern Resident orcas are a genetically and culturally distinct population of salmon-eating whales that rely on the waters of the Salish Sea to survive -- a region that includes the Juan de Fuca Strait, Georgia Strait and Puget Sound.
The population currently numbers just 76, and further losses could result in extinction.
The groups behind the petition are David Suzuki Foundation, Georgia Strait Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council, Raincoast Conservation Foundation and World Wildlife Fund Canada.