Washington's Bold Plan to Save Its Orcas

The last time I saw Scarlet alive, rain from a dismal September sky was pattering the Salish Sea. Despite the weather, dozens of people lined the cliff of San Juan Island’s Limekiln Point State Park, the best place to watch killer whales from land. It was as if they’d turned out to pay their respects to a funeral train.

I was on a NOAA Zodiac with a team that included a University of California at Davis wildlife veterinarian who was hoping to dose the sick three-year-old orca with an antiparasitic solution. As we approached Scarlet, she was struggling to keep up with her mother and three older siblings, all members of the Pacific Northwest’s critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales. The vet shot two darts filled with medication, but up close it was obvious that this and the other unprecedented attempts to save Scarlet weren’t going to be successful.

Scarlet’s once white eye patches had turned bilious orange, and instead of highlighting the Rubenesque form of a healthy killer whale, they wrapped tightly around the shape of her blubberless skull. She’d lost so much of her buoyant, insulating fat that it looked like just surfacing for air was an effort.

Less than a week later, after her mother had been seen several times without her, Scarlet was officially declared dead. The little orca likely just slipped away and sank forever into the cold, green water.

Losing Scarlet dropped the Southern Resident’s population to 74, its lowest level in 35 years. Since she was a female with breeding potential, her death nudges the whales that much closer to extinction.

The Southern Residents are sliding toward oblivion for three main reasons: fish, fish, fish. Chinook salmon makes up at least 80 percent of their diet, but many Chinook runs are also endangered. Man-made noise from vessels makes it harder for the orcas to communicate and hunt for what few fish are left. When they do catch a fish, it’s loaded with industrial and agricultural toxics.

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