Orcas and ESA: no shades of gray

The National Marine Fisheries Service raised a few eyebrows when it chose to give Puget Sound orcas, the region's favorite black-and-white plush toy, the full, protective embrace of the federal Endangered Species Act.

This might be the beginning of surprises to come. After decades of the mammals being shipped off to aquariums and suffering the degradation of their living environment, a particular pod of the "southern resident" killer whales has been judged to be at imminent risk of extinction. Not threatened, but doomed unless action is taken.

Few would dispute the detrimental impacts on the long-living, slow-to-reproduce whales. Certainly they are a beloved, signature species around the Sound.

This rigorous bureaucratic commitment to halting the orcas' decline and returning them to sustainable numbers is murky territory. There are no shades of gray in the rescue of the black-and-white whales.

Critics describe the ESA as a blunt instrument. Vigorous application of the law is especially cheered by those for whom its use and consequences occur at some physical and emotional distance. Spotted owls live in the woods, and stream accommodations for salmon lose their impact a stone's throw from the riverbank.

Orcas range around the Sound and dine on salmon, including scarce varieties protected by law. They swim in waters subject to commercial, recreational and military traffic. Indeed, hauling tourists and nature lovers within camera range of the mammals is a robust industry.

Orcas swim through waters subject to all manner of potentially untoward discharges and could be affected by construction and extraction activities. The ESA does not offer any room for debate, especially if it is a federal activity or one that is federally funded or permitted.

Do the endangered orcas require the designation of critical habitat to provide the physical and biological margins to conserve the species?

These questions occurred with regularity in the forests around logging towns or farmers' fields. Now the questions get raised in an urban proximity about a creature we love to love.

The next step could be a doozy.