U.S. Not Protecting Orcas, Lawsuit Says

A coalition of environmental groups sued the National Marine Fisheries Service on Wednesday over its decision not to list the struggling Puget Sound killer whale population under the Endangered Species Act.

“This is the first time an agency has tried to avoid protecting a species by claiming that the species is insignificant,” said Kathy Fletcher of People for Puget Sound, one of nine plaintiffs in the federal suit that seeks to reverse the agency’s decision.

The Commerce Department agency concluded in June that although the orcas are genetically distinct and could be extinct within a century -- the population is down to 82, including three newborns, compared with about 120 in the 1960s -- they do not constitute a “significant population segment” and thus are not eligible for endangered-species protection.

The fisheries agency has proposed listing the orcas as a “depleted species” under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The environmental groups say protections under that law are inadequate -- that only the Endangered Species Act would ensure protection of the whales’ critical habitat in Puget Sound.

“You can’t have one without the other,” Will Anderson, a member of the Earth Island Institute, said of the resident orcas’ connection to Washington state’s inland sea. “Save the orcas and you save Puget Sound.”

The lawsuit contends that the fisheries service ignored important aspects of killer whale biology and culture during its deliberations, including the fact that the loss of the Puget Sound orcas, called the “southern resident community,” would mean the end of resident killer whales in the contiguous United States.

“In the end, history will judge us by what we did to preserve the diversity and sanctity of life throughout our corner of the world,” said attorney Patty Goldman of Earthjustice. “We take this stand today to make sure this unique population of killer whales will still inhabit Puget Sound into the future.”

The orcas’ decline is attributed to a combination of factors, including declining salmon runs, toxins that accumulate in the whales’ bodies, and human disturbance from vessels and noise.