SALISH SEA, Wash. – The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife is issuing an emergency order following a new report about the region’s Southern Resident Orcas.
All commercial whale-watching vessels are being ordered to keep a half nautical mile away from the whales.
Drone photos analyzed between September 2021 and April 2022 show at least twelve J- and L-pod whales were in poor condition.
One of them appeared to be pregnant as of January.
The report is not all bad news though.
Three other K-pod orcas were pregnant during that same time period.
Recent video footage of K-pod whales showed at least one of those pregnancies was successful.
The emergency order will remain in effect through the rest of summer.