We want to thank you all of our supporters, colleagues, and team members that made this possible! With a special shout out to our colleagues at Friends of Lime Kiln Society (FOLKS) that helped us troubleshoot and guided us through getting the cam online.

Photo: J63 and J40 Suttles (front), J41 Eclipse, J62, and J27 Blackberry (back)

Picture Credit: @intertidalkendy.bsky.social

J63 is the first calf born to J40 Suttles, an encouraging development that the population has another reproductive female.

Female calves like J62 & J63 are vital for future growth. Both male & female calves play a key role in supporting genetic diversity needed for long-term survival

📸: Members of the AT1s | Emma Luck

Weakening the Marine Mammal Protection Act now puts other vulnerable populations, like the Southern Residents, at risk of the same irreversible outcome.

The MMPA directly mandates the sustainable management and protection of critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales (SRKWs), their habitat, & their prey. Under the proposed changes, marine mammals would no longer be protected from activities with high potential for disruption or injury.

• Constrain the federal definition of ‘harassment’ so that it no longer prohibits actions with the potential to harm marine mammals
• Require unreasonable or impossible data to estimate population abundances and design best practices for management, which will hinder conservation efforts

The proposed amendment would:
• Strike down protections for poorly-known populations, such as Alaskan killer whale populations
• Eliminate best-practice precautionary approaches backed by decades of science

What’s happening:
Earlier this week, Congressman Nick Begich (R-AK) introduced a draft bill amending the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the landmark federal legislation that has guided marine resource management and conservation in the United States for over fifty years.

Photo 1: J Pod in a greeting line (Southern Residents)
Photo 2: T19 Nootka breaching during a predation (Transients)
Photo 3: A5 Pod (Northern Residents)

At Orca Conservancy, our work is rooted in protecting wild orcas and the web of life they depend on. That means restoring wild salmon, defending clean waters, and speaking up for the wild places that sustain us all.

Today is a celebration and a reminder that their survival depends on our choices.

Each has a unique dialect, social structure, and relationship with the ecosystem they call home. These aren’t just whales, they are families, cultures, and ecological indicators of the health of our waters.

This is the first release of the J Pod Eye Patch Guide, and we’ll continue to update it as we expand our catalog. We will also be working toward acquiring images of all members of K and L Pods to release a complete Southern Resident Killer Whale Eye Patch Guide.

The public comment period is open until August 7, 2025. To learn more and submit a comment, visit:
www.orcaconservancy.org/blog/action-...

These rollbacks would remove key protections under the Clean Air Act and weaken the federal government’s ability to respond to the climate crisis.

Photo: T99 Barakat with fire smoke in the background

The EPA is proposing to roll back carbon pollution safeguards for fossil fuel power plants, threatening climate progress, salmon recovery, & the survival of endangered Southern Resident orcas.

The public comment period is open now through September 30, 2025. This is your chance to speak up for endangered orcas, wild salmon, and the health of the Salish Sea. We have put together an Action Alert with more info and how to comment: www.orcaconservancy.org/blog/action-...

The proposed project is being pushed forward as a "pilot," yet OPALCO is requesting a 10-year license—an unusually long timeframe for a trial in such a fragile ecosystem, especially without sufficient real-world testing or peer-reviewed science to assess the risks to whales & other marine life.