The Strait of Juan de Fuca is home to 74 Southern Resident orcas. They are an iconic symbol for the region. Visitors go out in droves hoping to see one.
But beneath the surface, their survival is at risk due to the decline of their primary food source, Chinook salmon.
The Southern Resident orcas receive the majority of their diet outside the Salish Sea from Columbia River and Snake River salmon, specifically.
One of the primary drivers of Columbia River and Snake River salmon are the cumulative impacts of scores of federal hydroelectric dams across the basin that create hot, stagnant water.
Luckily, the four lower Snake River dams provide services that can be replaced.
Recent studies by the Washington state and federal governments show that the irrigation, transportation and energy provided by these dams can be not only replaced, but enhanced and made more resilient.
We have witnessed how quickly a river can recover by the success of the removal of the dams on the Elwha.
Salmon returns have dwindled near extinction since the decades in which the lower Snake River dams have been online and the Southern Resident orcas are showing signs of malnutrition.
I would hope that the good people on this Peninsula do not forget our relatives, the Southern Resident orcas, and that together we can urge lawmakers in the wisdom of dam removal on the lower Snake River.
Lauren Churchill
Sequim