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Hi John,
Southern Resident orcas use distinct sounds to communicate. The clicks, whistles, and pulsed calls of orcas are shared among pods that belong to the same clan — and Southern Residents only have one clan, so they can all talk to each other.
But noise pollution from vessels drowns out the sounds, making it harder for these starving killer whales to hunt and find Chinook salmon, their preferred food.
The Center for Biological Diversity is fighting to protect them. You can help with a gift to the Saving Life on Earth Fund.
Just 74 Southern Resident orcas remain. These animals' slow reproductive cycles — they can live to be 80 and keep their calves in the pod with them for life — make each calf critical to the survival of the population.
Many of these whales are malnourished, and calves frequently die from starvation. Earlier this year the youngest calf went missing and is presumed dead.
Noise pollution from the ships and boats that pass by them is harming their echolocation, hearing, and communication.
NOAA Fisheries designated critical habitat for these whales in 2006 but didn't limit that pollution.
But there's hope. NOAA Fisheries has the power to give orcas a quieter home.
Speed limits, requiring routine maintenance, and changing vessel routes all would keep the noise from human-made machines away from whale habitat.
Science gives us the steps to saving species. We just have to act on what we know will work to protect wildlife — and what's also the right thing to do.
The Center is campaigning to save Southern Resident whales and all animals and plants on the brink. We won't stop. Our love for the wild pushes us every day to prevent extinction.
Please consider a gift to the Saving Life on Earth Fund and help us save whales and other mammals from disappearing forever.
For the wild,
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