Feds agree to list Puget Sound orcas as endangered species

SEATTLE – The federal government today listed Puget Sound orcas as an endangered species, rather than a threatened one as it proposed last year.

"Between the time we proposed to list these animals as threatened and now, we've discovered the population is in a more delicate situation than we had assumed," said Brian Gorman, a spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The three pods of orcas that live in Puget Sound each summer number 89 whales — down from its historical levels in the middle of last century, but up from a low of 79 in 2002.

Previously, they were protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which kept them from being killed or harassed. The new listing under the Endangered Species Act will require federal agencies to make sure their activities do not harm the whales and will provide better protection against the factors contributing to their decline, including pollution and a loss of prey, namely salmon.

Eight environmental groups sued in December 2002 over the government's refusal to list the whales under the Endangered Species Act. The government had argued that it couldn't list them because the Puget Sound orcas were not biologically distinct from other orcas.

The environmental groups argued that Puget Sound orcas have a different diet and features from other orcas, don't mate outside their family structure, and that they are also different in showing such an attachment to one geographic region, and a federal judge ordered the fisheries service to reconsider.

In response, the agency suggested listing the orcas as threatened, a listing that would afford the whales all the protections of the Endangered Species Act. Upon further review, and at the request of environmentalists, the fisheries service decided the "endangered" listing was more appropriate.

"Threatened" reflects a species at risk of becoming endangered; "endangered" reflects a species at risk of becoming extinct. There is little, if any, difference in protection provided under each listing; it's simply a reflection of the peril faced by the species.

"If I were a killer whale, I wouldn't notice any difference," Gorman said.

Patti Goldman, a managing attorney with Earthjustice in Seattle, said the "endangered" listing might help environmental groups win more money from the federal government to protect the orcas.

"This will give us the will and the tools to take the actions that will allow them to survive," Goldman said. "It's been a long time coming. It's time now to roll up our sleeves and make this listing work for the orcas."

Kathy Fletcher, executive director for the environmental group People for Puget Sound, said the listing will bolster legal arguments for expediting the cleanup of contamination in the sound. Conservation groups plan to lobby for a ban on harmful flame retardant chemicals found in everything from electronics to plastics to furniture — chemicals that have been found in the whales.