World OCEANS DAY! June 8, 2019
Of late, many of us have been caught up in the struggles the Southern Resident orcas. So much so, that when good things happen in the Salish Sea, we forget to celebrate. The first example of this that springs to mind is the birth of two calves into the SRKW population in the past six months. Two reasons to pause our worries and to celebrate. Although our thoughts invariably shift to feelings of concern for these young whales; hoping they are doing well as of this writing.
June 1 marked the start of Orca Action Month in our part of the world. With this in mind, we added a new page on our website: Orca Facts. Things about orcas that even the “whaley” person may not know. Like Fact No. 1: Next to humans, orcas are the second most widespread mammal on the planet (includes all ecotypes of orcas).
Rereading the Orca Facts, and posting today’s fact, on World Ocean Day - the 8th day of Orca Action Month, got us thinking about the millions of other creatures around the globe that call oceans home. The biodiversity is astonishing, another cause for celebration.
But as we all know, many of the residents of many of these oceans are in similar precarious states as the Southern Residents: fighting their own battle of survival. Knowing that they are not alone in their struggles can’t bring any of these species comfort.
So, what can we do to help these ocean species to survive and thrive? We think it is best, to begin with educating yourself about the world’s oceans and its inhabitants. Just doing this will likely lead you to make day-to-day choices that will assist in improving the well-being of our oceans, making them healthier places to live.
We commend those of you who have taken personal measures to improve the quality of Southern Resident orcas’ habitat, as well as organizations like PCC Markets (Seattle) who chose to stop selling Pacific Northwest Chinook salmon in their stores. Other grocery retailers have made the same choice. The website links below will take you to numerous suggestions about how you can play a part in making the world’s oceans healthy again.
This World Oceans Day, we celebrate the additions to the Southern Resident orca family; as well as all of you who are making an effort every day in your own way to help make L124’s and J56’s new home and the world’s oceans better places to live.
Links:
https://oceana.org/living-blue