The Relationship that could Clean Up the Sound

By Liz Leavens

Orcas and salmon draw a lot of attention from those that live in the Pacific Northwest and those visiting the area from across the world. They are part of the local culture and an enormous tourist attraction. The economy relies on these icons.

No one wants to see an icon endangered let alone go extinct. Now, more than ever, there is a great effort to clean up Puget Sound and much of that effort is the result of declining wildlife populations, especially orcas and salmon. Since Southern Resident orcas and Puget Sound Chinook (which seem to be SR orcas main food source) are listed under the Federal Endangered Species Act, recovery plans have to be developed to protect both species. General interest in such “charismatic” wildlife will magnify those efforts since no one wants to see their favorite animal disappear.

Each species is connected directly or indirectly to all other species and focusing on only one or two species is similar to curing the symptoms and not the disease. Focusing on the ecosystem is more efficient. Unfortunately, most of us are not interested enough in plankton, macroinvertebrates, forage fish, eel grass, and native shrubs to take the cue from them that the sound and its watersheds need help. So, the good thing about focusing on orcas and salmon is that in order to “save” them, we are forced to deal with all these other indicator species that more times than not are ignored in other circumstances. Their names are still diluted under “orca” and “salmon,” but at least we are beginning to understand.

My small piece of the puzzle…

As an AmeriCorps volunteer, I was required to complete a Community Action Project (CAP) aside from my regular responsibilities with SFEG. The goal of the CAP is for the AmeriCorps member to “gain a deeper appreciation of civic engagement, and have an experiential understanding of how to effectively go about creating positive change.” To be honest, in the beginning I wasn’t really looking forward to this additional project, then realized I needed an attitude adjustment and decided I should do something that really peaks my interest; then it will definitely be worth my while.

I have to admit that I’m guilty of being enthralled and captivated by orcas, so I decided to focus on them and, staying true to SFEG, their relationship with salmon. I wanted to show how one link in the chain of a healthy ecosystem depends on each other and if we help one, we help the other. I thought using salmon and orcas would be a good draw and with that attention I could exploit their interconnectedness to each other and all of the other components of the ecosystem.

My project involved surveying the general public on their perceptions and opinions of orcas and salmon, providing an educational display, and finally analyzing the results of the survey in hopes of improving outreach and education on salmon and orca issues. I took the survey to several SFEG functions and once a week traveled over to Lime Kiln Lighthouse on San Juan Island and surveyed folks visiting the State Park; not a bad place to work for the day.

Lime Kiln State Park, with its famous lighthouse, was a base of operations for administering the orca-salmon survey.

I would like to thank SFEG, Dr. Bob Otis, Courtney Smith, Lime Kiln Point State Park, People for Puget Sound, Boshie Morris, Barbara and Mike, Vera, Phyllis, and Island Adventure for their guidance, direction, and willingness to allow myself and the survey to attend their events. A special thank you to Boshie, Courtney, Dr. Otis, Barbara and Mike, Vera, Phyllis, San Juan Transit, and Washington State Ferry for getting me safely to and from San Juan Island! Thank you so much!