southern resident orcas

A U.S. appeals court has halted a lower court ruling that would have shut down southeast Alaska’s Chinook salmon troll fishery for the summer to protect endangered orca whales that eat the fish.

A ruling from a U.S. judge in Seattle could effectively shut down commercial king salmon trolling in Southeast Alaska after a conservation group challenged the harvest as a threat to protected fish and the endangered killer whales that eat them.

An plan announced last week to return Lolita, a killer whale held captive for more than a half-century, to her home waters in Washington’s Puget Sound thrilled those who have long advocated for her to be freed. But it also called to mind the release of Keiko — the star of the movie “Free Willy” — more than two decades ago.

More than 50 years after the orca known by her stage name ‘Lolita’ was captured for public display, plans are in place to return her from the Miami Seaquarium to her home waters in the Pacific Northwest.

A ‘Godfather’ of whale watching and conservation has died. Ken Balcomb, founder of the Center for Whale Research was 82. Balcomb kept track of the population of southern resident orcas starting in 1976.

The last southern resident orca in captivity could soon retire to a sea pen in the Salish Sea. KNKX environment reporter Bellamy Pailthorp has more about the fate of Toki, as her trainers in Florida call her.

A growing legal movement seeks to recognize the rights of nature. Activists in the Northwest are celebrating a first here: the city of Port Townsend, Washington, this week recognized the inherent rights of southern resident orcas.

Big ships entering and leaving Puget Sound will be asked to temporarily slow down to reduce underwater noise as part of a two month Quiet Sound trial. Washington state hope the speed reduction helps the Pacific Northwest's critically endangered southern resident orcas.

A federal court ruling this week has thrown into doubt the future of a valuable commercial salmon fishery in Southeast Alaska. U.S. District Judge Richard Jones in Seattle sided with the nonprofit Wild Fish Conservancy in determining that the National Marine Fisheries Service improperly approved the troll fishery for king salmon, also known as Chinook, in 2019.

Two boaters accused of illegally approaching endangered Southern Resident killer whales in rented boats were fined for violating regulations that protect the whales. State and federal regulations require recreational boats to stay at least 300 yards to the sides of orcas and 400 yards in front and behind them.