Federal biologists say the southern resident pod has always been small but has fluctuated widely since record keeping began in the early 1970s, going from a low of around 70 to a peak of about 97 in 1996. We don't even know where they spend the winter or the extent of their range. That makes determining the reason for the decline quite a challenge. The petition was submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity in Berkeley, Calif., and 10 other groups. Threats to the whales include overfishing of salmon, their favorite food source, unregulated whale watching, and contamination by toxins such as pesticides that accumulate in the food chain as predatory fish feed on fish that already have toxins in them.
Orcas are at the top of their food chain.
The petition did not seek to have all killer whales classified as endangered. The petition requested more research and conservation spending on the whales, better protection of habitat and the release of some captive whales. Dozens of young whales were captured to be displayed in aquariums in the 1960s and 1970s. For the twenty-sixth year, the Center for Whale Research is documenting the pods of killer whales that frequent the inland waters of Washington State and southern British Columbia. Maintaining both a photographic catalog of every individual as well as social structure of the entire population, staff at the Center noticed the missing animals as the pods returned to the San Juan Islands last month.