Southern Resident Killer Whales are struggling to avoid extinction. Lack of prey (i.e., Chinook salmon), noise and disturbances, and contaminants are three major stressors. An updated population model analyzed the cumulative effect of these stressors to help inform recovery efforts. Rob Williams from the Oceans Initiative shared recent model results that explore the population’s viability under different scenarios. For example, can the population survive even under the best salmon conditions and management of legacy contaminants like PCBs? In parallel, the University of Washington Tacoma, Western Washington University, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Puyallup Tribe collaborated to identify priority contaminants of emerging concern present in the Salish Sea that have the potential to adversely impact exposed organisms. The initial effort focused mainly on salmonids, but the team also piloted a framework for understanding the effect of contaminants of emerging concern on Southern Resident Killer Whales. Andy James and Ruth Sofield shared some initial results and opportunities to integrate this research with Rob’s modeling.

See the slides and learn more at https://www.pugetsoundinstitute.org/c...

Chapters
00:00 Intro

02:53 Modeling cumulative effects

34:24 Contaminants of emerging concern

48:15 Q&A