For nearly three years, the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has withheld action on a petition to declare the southern resident orca whales as threatened or endangered within state waters. They have been waiting for the federal government to make its own decision in response to a separate petition.

However, the National Marine Fisheries Service (the federal agency) recently failed to list these same orcas as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, choosing instead the far lesser protections under the Marine Mammal Protection Act ("depleted" status). Nearby Canada has already declared these whales endangered.

We are asking the state to give protection to the southern resident orca whales under Washington Administrative Code 232.12.297, Section 5.1.3., the state Endangered Species Act. ORCa prefers an emergency listing because the population has dropped since the initial response from the state nearly three years ago.

The State of Washington has programs and protections that will contribute to saving the orcas - but only if the orcas are designated as endangered or threatened. Please write a personal letter today. Ask the WDFW Director to act on the listing petition.

Some points to consider in the letter in addition to what you may wish write:

• If you are a Washington resident, say so. If not, let them know that you find the orcas a reason to come to the state as a tourist, providing jobs and a diversified economy.
• You prefer an emergency listing since the state has already waited three years since the original petition, but want action now in whatever form it takes to get the orcas listed. On January 10, 2000, WDFW acknowledged to the Progressive Animal Welfare Society that "there is enough information to support a concern for the biological status of this species in Washington." The orca population is now lower than at the time of the petition to have them listed.
• Remind them that the orcas: declined 20% in five years; are poisoned with toxic waste; do not have sufficient and reliable food resources; and live where vessel traffic creates noise - making it difficult to find food using their echolocation.
• Policies of the state's government and agencies impact the health of the orcas and the environment they share with people. The state issues permits for industrial wastewater and chemicals, licenses vessels and controls fisheries policies. The orcas must be considered when these actions are taken, and only the state Endangered Species Act can make that happen.