Episode 48 - Southern Resident Killer Whales: 20 Years Endangered - Part 1

2026-01-14

Part 1: How We Got Here In this first episode of our multi-part series on Southern Resident killer whales, we step back to look at the full historical arc — from the pre-capture population, through the capture era, to the endangered listing that shapes recovery efforts happening today. This episode sets the foundation for the entire series. Before we can talk about recovery strategies and efforts, we need to understand how the Southern Resident killer whales became endangered in the first p...

Part 1: How We Got Here

In this first episode of our multi-part series on Southern Resident killer whales, we step back to look at the full historical arc — from the pre-capture population, through the capture era, to the endangered listing that shapes recovery efforts happening today.

This episode sets the foundation for the entire series. Before we can talk about recovery strategies and efforts, we need to understand how the Southern Resident killer whales became endangered in the first place.

We discuss what we know about the pre-capture population, the capture era and its lasting impacts, recovery and then decline, risk factors and the endangered species listing.

Coming up in Part 2 we will dig into actions that have been taken over the last 20 years since the endangered species listing, how much it has cost and the results (or lack of) for Southern Resident recovery.

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Links mentioned in this episode:

Endangered Orcas: The Story of the Southern Residents: https://www.orcabehaviorinstitute.org/product/endangered-orcas-book
NOAA Fisheries Recovery Plan for Southern Resident Killer Whales (2008): https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/document/recovery-plan-southern-resident-killer-whales-orcinus-orca

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