Voices for Orcas is a collection of stories from all walks of life who care about saving Southern Resident orcas from extinction.
“I am deeply concerned about the impact of climate change on the health of Southern Resident orcas and salmon. The past seven years were the hottest on record and rising water temperatures threaten the survival of both species. Climate change is here and now. It is time to make meaningful investments into climate action before it is too late for our salmon and Southern Resident orca.”
“The easy fights are done, what we have to do now is keep the fabric whole, it's not about making a little quilt with patches, it's about the thread that holds those patches together, and that's what salmon are about in the Pacific Northwest…It's true for Climate Change, it’s true for Justice, and it’s true for the ecological integrity of this whole place we call home. We couldn’t be in a bigger, more impactful time.”
“[This is] our fault and that's why we need to do everything possible to try to recover [Chinook]. And so when we’re talking about what are the fastest ways to recover chinook salmon. A big one is removing dams, removing dams that are blocking passageways up to natal rivers, up to high elevations and cold water habitats. As we remove dams we’re literally removing barriers for these fish to get back to where they’re trying to get.”
“Looking at the future, in order to right a wrong here for irresponsible development, which basically dams are; the salmon are core to that irresponsibility, the corps of engineers knew about it and what it would do to the salmon runs, that makes it irresponsible. Moving forward under the obligation to the tribes and the land itself there's an environmental justice that needs to happen. The river itself feeds and is home to many living species; lamprey, steelhead, resident fish, and everything that's along the river and floodplains that have been obliterated because of the dams.”
“The beauty of breaching the snake river dams is that it is a very short term way of providing millions of salmon within a few months. And the reason that's true is that each of the four dams kill about ten million chinook smolts each year going down the river, so they never make it to the ocean. If you breach the dam you instantly stop killing ten million chinook smolts.”
“Remember when we’re on the water, we’re playing in their living room. So we can make a choice as to how we behave, when we behave, where we behave… but it's where they live. So it's having that increased respect of treading lightly. Being respectful and knowing that they’re not putting on a show for us, they’re living their lives and we have the honor to see them.”
“Two icons of the Pacific Northwest, salmon and orca, they’re very much intertwined. Losing the orca is horrible, but so is losing the salmon. They’re so tightly knit, and I think people tend to forget that.”
“Salmon are the miner’s canary to the environment. If the salmon goes, so do the rivers and the natural environment and the Salish Sea. It's an indicator species, so we have to highlight salmon to show the things we can do to wake the people up. Even more important, salmon are central to our way of life. Everything is derived from our salmon. It's on all of our tables and meals, it is where a lot of the Indigeneous knowledge is passed on. It's where values are witnessed. Without salmon, who are we?”
“The loss of any species is devastating no matter what it is, but losing salmon would be—for the entire ecosystem—unfathomable. It feels very urgent and real and like it could happen tomorrow.”
“Restoration of salmon habitat creates the strongest chance of success for salmon and therefore creates the strongest chance of success for our Resident orcas.”
Voices for Orcas 