How You Can Help the Southern Resident Orcas:
Pollution
Marine mammal researchers generally agree that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are the primary pollutants causing health problems for the Southern Resident Community of orcas and many other marine animals.
PCBs were originally used in electrical transformers and other industrial applications and slowly leaked into the environment, entering the food chain. For example, a salmon that eats insect larvae carrying a PCB molecule contaminates an orca when the whale eats the salmon.
The highly stable chemicals were banned in North America and western Europe in the 1970s but researchers say they will persist around the globe throughout the 21st Century. Some nations still manufacture these toxins, and when airborne, they are distributed throughout Earth's atmosphere.
These chemicals can harm reproductive, immune and endocrine functions in mammals. Researchers estimate that bulls in the Southern Resident Community carry levels of PCBs 140 times higher than humans living in the Pacific Northwest, and are among the most contaminated animals on the planet.
To learn more about PCBs in general see a Fact Sheet by Ohio State University.
What You Can Do
Tell your legislators that you support the United Nations proposal for an international ban on the "dirty dozen" of persistent organic pollutants or POPs. They are among the most fearsome of toxic chemicals because of the threat to human and animal health. The list consists of PCBs; nine pesticides; and dioxins and furans, the two unwanted byproducts of combustion and chemical manufacturing. For more information, see the U.N. Environment Program website on POPs. Also see Congress.org to find and contact your legislators.
Learn about your watershed: Where does your water come from and where does it go? (See the watershed illustration.) Every liquid pollutant that doesn't evaporate and go into the atmosphere eventually drains into a body of water. Pollutants can travel from freshwater bodies into the ocean. Find out where "nonpoint" pollution goes in your area.
Avoid the use of pesticides and inorganic fertilizers. Use organic remedies, such as those recommended by Washington State University Master Gardeners. Pesticides and inorganic fertilizers are toxic to fish?the Southern Residents' food source. Even if fish aren't immediately killed by the chemicals, orcas will ingest the toxins when they eat the fish. For more information on the effects of and alternatives to such chemicals, see the Pesticide Action Network North America website.
Support organic farming. It reduces the need for pesticides and inorganic fertilizers, making the environment as well as your own body healthier.
When changing motor oil in vehicles, prevent even small amounts from leaking onto the ground or into a body of water. Or hire a professional to change your oil. It takes only a tiny amount to cause harm to marine life forms. Be sure to recycle your old oil.
If you see an oil sheen in the waters of the San Juan Islands, call the San Juan County Sheriff at (360) 378-4151, who will contact trained local oil spill clean-up personnel. In other areas, within the U.S. call the Coast Guard at 1-800-424-8802 or check the National Response Center website. Petrochemicals are toxic to fish that orcas eat, and an oil spill could directly endanger orcas and other marine animals.
Don't pour paint or thinner down the drain. If you can't use all of it, give it away or let water-based paint dry out in the can before disposing of it. Oil-based paint should be taken to your community hazardous waste disposal station.
Check with your public health department to find out the proper way to dispose of hazardous waste.
If you have a septic tank, especially if you live near a body of water, make sure it's operating properly. Leaking tanks are a major source of water pollution, negatively affecting all marine species. Even if not required by law in your area, it's a good idea to get a professional tank inspection every year.
When boating, discharge your sewage only at approved discharge stations. To find out where they are in Puget Sound call the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance at (206) 286-1309.
Look for "no phosphates" when buying home cleaning products. When phosphates go down the drain they can end up in a freshwater body or the ocean. In lakes and rivers especially, phosphates cause rapid growth of algae, resulting in water pollution. When shopping also look for "danger" or "poison" on the label; those products are the most hazardous to humans and animals. Those labeled "caution" or "warning" pose a medium hazard. For more information, see the Washington Toxics Coalition.
Keep our beaches and oceans free of litter, especially plastic materials. Marine animals can become entangled in plastic or eat it, thinking it is food. Eating or getting tangled up in it can kill them. The Marine Pollution Act makes it against the law to dump plastics at sea and in all U.S. navigable waters. If you see plastic debris on the beach, pick it up and dispose of it properly. See entanglement studies on northern fur seals by the National Marine Mammal Laboratory. Also visit Marine Debris Education, including a coloring book for kids, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Keep outside party balloons tied down. Although they look pretty floating up into the sky, they will eventually deflate and end up on land or in the ocean. Once in the ocean, like plastic debris, they are mistaken by marine animals as food.
Contact your legislators about water quality issues. We need lawmakers to know we support their efforts to clean up the environment. Go to Congress.org to find and contact your legislators.
Visit the Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team Website to learn what else you can do to improve water quality.
