SAN FRANCISCO, February 7 – Just before Christmas Eve, Tahlequah (J35), a majestic Salish Sea Orca that grieved in 2018 for 17 days whilst carrying her calf in her mouth for 1000 miles (1600km), gave birth to a female, J61.
One-week later J61 died. Over again, Tahlequah began grieving. This time she clutched her daughter for 11 days and swam 650 miles (1046km) before mother and corpse disappeared on 11 January 2025.
The Salish Sea is nestled between British Columbia, Canada, and Washington, United States. There are about seven million people in near proximity to this sea.
Horrifically, the Salish Sea is befouled with non-stick chemicals (PFAS), cocaine, Prozac, Advil, Benadryl, endocrine carcinomas from 110 toxic excrement treatment centres and hideous 4-nonlyphenol (4NP) from pulp and toilet paper, soap detergents and textile processing from industrial runoff.
The Salish Sea, an ecological west coast jewel and midpoint of the Salmon Nation Rainforest, is brimming with poisons, increasing LNG marine traffic with deafening noise and military exercises, combustion-fuelled heat and dwindling Chinook Salmon populations, Orca food.
All this is horrible news for the remaining 73 critically endangered Southern Resident Salish Sea Orcas, pods J, K and L. “It highlights the injustice of what we’ve done to Killer Whales (Orcas) and their habitat,” says Dr Michael Weiss, research director, Center for Whale Research.
4NP disrupts mammal’s nervous systems, impairs cognitive function, affects hormone levels, weakens their immune system thereby making them more susceptible to illnesses and miscarriages. Researchers at the University of British Columbia found that 95 per cent of 4NP was transferred from a mother Orca to its foetus.
Weiss told me that the Orcas: “are full of toxicants, they’re not getting enough to eat, and their children aren’t making it because of that.”
What we do to the Salish Sea and the Orcas with poisons, we do to ourselves. Speaking of which, the human miscarriage rate around the Salish Sea is as high as 25 per cent; that’s higher than the U.S. national average.
Orcas have complex sonar system-based dialects. They live within a matriarch driven society. Mother’s regularly share half of their fish catch with their young sons and daughters. However, they stop sharing fish with their daughters once they reach reproductive age. Moms continue to feed their sons into adulthood. Chinook Salmon, which have become scarce, are the main food source for Southern Residents.
Clearly, it’s time to end commercial and recreational Salmon fisheries. From Anchorage to Santa Cruz, seven Pacific Salmon species sustain 138 Salmon Nation Rainforest animal species, as well as fertilising the forests themselves.
Animals are the “veins and arteries”, and the small ones, such as flies and copepods, are the “capillaries” of rainforests and oceans. Together, they ensure that west coast temperate rainforests are the planet’s best frontline defence against climate chaos.
Distressingly, Portland State University biologists discovered microplastics (perfect sponges for persistent organic pollutants) in 180 of 182 samples (99%) comprising five types of fish and pink shrimp. Please, reconsider eating seafood.
Each of us matters. Refusing to purchase goods and services is a formidable protest action! So, embrace minimalism. Switch to a plant-based diet because it safeguards you and your family, Mother Earth, Salish Sea Orcas, the remaining old-growth rainforests and all living life.
© 2025 Reese Halter
Illegitimi non carborundum
Reese Halter is a bees/trees/seas defender.
Unearthly Wails is a special edition, a collection of poetry
illustrated by renowned Ojibwa artist Terry McCue.
Email: HalterBooks@gmail.com to order
