Do We Care Enough to Save the Last 76 Southern Resident Orca Whales?
I have spent a lot of time on Puget Sound but have never seen an orca whale, and yet I feel a close connection to these animals. My kids and I have enjoyed watching high definition BBC/PBS nature videos of transient orca whales hunting seals and even narwhals as the Arctic has melted. Orcas ability to communicate and hunt in packs like wolves make them "the most terrifying predator since the Tyrannosauruses Rex" according to one scientist. There are a lot of competing priorities for local governments including homelessness, the opioid epidemic, mental and behavioral health the list is long and solutions are expensive and very hard to achieve. Somewhere in the distant background of local news coverage is the fact that 8 Southern Resident Orca whales have died in…