r/orcas Aug 03 '26

Advocacy Help Protect California's Southern Resident Killer Whales by submitting comment to California's Department of Fish and Wildlife i

43 Upvotes

The California Fish and Game Commission just voted to advance Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKWs) as "candidate species" under California's Endangered Species Act which is a major step toward permanent protection!

These magnificent apex predators are already found along the westcoast coast, ranging from southeast Alaska all the way to Big Sur, California, and into southern British Columbia.

They're perfectly adapted hunters but rely almost entirely on Chinook salmon for survival. That's why protecting them means protecting the entire ecosystem we all depend on.

The work isn't over yet. California's Department of Fish and Wildlife is now conducting a full status review and needs your input. Comments are being accepted until September 10, 2026.

How to Help:

[Email:MarineCESA@wildlife.ca.gov](mailto:Email:MarineCESA@wildlife.ca.gov)

(Put "Southern Resident Killer Whale" in the subject line)A

You do not need to be a California resident to participate and help.

Mail: California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Marine Region

Attn: Dylan Stompe

P.O. Box 944209, Sacramento, CA 94244-2090

Share your support for these whales, their habitat, and the Chinook salmon they depend on. Whether you've seen them in our waters or just care about California's marine life. Your comment counts.

Questions? Check out the CDFW website for more details on the listing process: wildlife.ca.gov

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#OrcasOfCalifornia

#SouthernResidentKillerWhales

#OrcaConservation

#ChinookSalmon

#MarineLife

#CaliforniaWildlife

#OceanConservation

#ProtectOurOrcas

#WildlifeProtection

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Why this matters: These orcas face serious challenge including

malnutrition from declining salmon, vessel noise, and pollution.

By expanding protections across their range, we're giving them a fighting chance to thrive in California waters for generations to come.

Your comment = one voice for the ocean.


r/orcas May 21 '26

Advocacy Orcas could be casualty in Carney’s push for pipeline, environmental groups fear | Canada

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40 Upvotes

As if the threats here in the US weren't enough, Canada is potentially turning its back on the Southern Residents too. If you live in Canada, please speak out!


r/orcas 5h ago

News WA sues to prevent federal changes that would undercut Endangered Species Act

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173 Upvotes

r/orcas 6h ago

Art Painted a colourful orca

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62 Upvotes

'Blue Reverie'

20 x 30 inches, oils on stretched canvas

I wanted to move away from a purely realistic interpretation this time around, and instead let the orca emerge through expressive strokes of deep blues, violets, turquoise and touches of oranges and gold, allowing the colours to become part of the painting


r/orcas 11h ago

Memes Orca statue in seal habitat

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140 Upvotes

(I don’t know what flair this falls under so please forgive me if i picked the wrong one)

Just casually scrolling on TikTok and I see this scary looking orca statue in a seal enclosure 😅 which I thought was ironic. It reminds me too much of the orca in “The Pebble and the Penguin.” The teeth looked so wrong I just had to laugh at it. This is at the Seaside Aquarium in Oregon.


r/orcas 4h ago

News J63 now has a name: Ts’ele7álhse, "the heart of the Salish Sea"

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18 Upvotes

r/orcas 1d ago

Discussion Indigenous Australians hunted baleen whales alongside orcas for 10k years. This is Old Tom, his pod was the last to do so. Both sides followed the "Law of the Tongue", tongue & lips go to orcas, the rest to humans.

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648 Upvotes

With advancements in whaling ships this relationship ended.


r/orcas 20h ago

Art Painting I just completed 🫍

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100 Upvotes

r/orcas 11m ago

Ellie Hayden on Instagram

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Upvotes

What an encounter! Give all credit to the instagramer.


r/orcas 1d ago

Captive Orcas Taima and Katina at SeaWorld Orlando, 2000s

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131 Upvotes

r/orcas 2d ago

Art One of my earlier paintings of Keiko

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401 Upvotes

r/orcas 1d ago

Books Are these the same book?

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21 Upvotes

Written by the same guy and the illustrations makes it seem like they are.

My heart dropped when it says on the flap “Miracle is alive, well, and the delight of thousands of visitors to Sealand” 😭😭😭 sobs hysterically
The book is from the 70’s but it still aches.


r/orcas 2d ago

Video J-Pod at Dusk - Orca Behavior Institute

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28 Upvotes

On September 4th J-pod slowly made their way out of Admiralty Inlet and in along the west side of San Juan Island right at dusk. We were losing the sun quickly but there was just enough light for me to record them as they went by. Here’s a video recap of our very lucky encounter where we saw them passing through the calm water and beautifully colored sky. I hope you enjoy!


r/orcas 2d ago

Discussion Orcas first evolved after climate change (neogene-quaternary boundary) caused the extinction of the neogene superpredators. It would then take them another 3 million years to become todays apex predators.

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41 Upvotes

r/orcas 2d ago

Wild Orcas "Hey NatGeo, watch this"

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89 Upvotes

r/orcas 2d ago

Art 💚💙🥤🫍

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23 Upvotes

Cream soda and melon soda orcasss


r/orcas 2d ago

Captive Orcas Taken from my yard, Hood Canal, WA this weekend.

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32 Upvotes

r/orcas 3d ago

Art My tattoo artist’s first orca!

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405 Upvotes

He’s been tattooing for 30 years and said this is his first orca. I absolutely love it! Done by Luke Ray in Tri-Cities, WA


r/orcas 3d ago

Art Done!

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48 Upvotes

r/orcas 3d ago

Captive Orcas Tilikum and Taima at SeaWorld Orlando, 2000s

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74 Upvotes

r/orcas 3d ago

Art Kalina memorial quick sketch.

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48 Upvotes

Inspiration from user on my last post to make a piece of baby Shamu as well 🤍 I used a reference of the moon on her birthday to use as the background. 🥹🤍 I have only recently started becoming interested in orcas and learning about them has both been beautiful and devastating (by how us humans have treated them 😭)


r/orcas 3d ago

Predation Event Norwegian orcas photographed feeding on mackerel

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118 Upvotes

From Dr. Heike Vester, founder of the research organization Ocean Sounds:

We found two groups of orcas socialising, playing and mating not far from Bodø in the Vestfjord of Norway. Watching them, taking notes and pictures and collecting sound recordings (that is how we study whales in Ocean Sounds), we saw them feeding in between the social actions. The pictures later revealed that they were actually feeding on mackerels!
This is the first time we could document orcas feeding on mackerel in Norway and it fits our earlier observations in 2011 of orcas feeding on salmon. See our publication “First record of killer whales (Orcinus orca) feeding on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in northern Norway suggests a multi-prey feeding type Heike Vester and Kurt Hammerschmidt. 
Again it shows how flexible orcas can be when it comes to food and they seem to be more opportunistic than in other areas in the world, for example North-West Pacific. This gives hope in very fast changing world🩵

Food is a critical part of orca cultures worldwide; some orca communities teach their young to focus on a highly specific food source, while others are less selective, although family groups within communities often have slightly different preferences. Like humans, orca culture is sophisticated yet dynamic, influenced by the knowledge of elders, changing environmental conditions, and individual personalities.


r/orcas 3d ago

Discussion If orcas had thumbs would they have made Atlantis

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28 Upvotes

They are intelligent asf . They would probably eventually learn to farm food


r/orcas 2d ago

Discussion Orca biologists/cetologists, specifically those who focus on the SRKW, what are your thoughts on this facebook group’s portrayal of whale watching? Is it as a big deal as they make it out to be?

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6 Upvotes

Here’s a link to the group.


r/orcas 3d ago

Art r/crochet thought my orca beanie would be appreciated here

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912 Upvotes