On August 2, 2021 NOAA Fisheries expanded the area designated as critical habitat for the endangered Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) to include certain coastal waters off Washington, Oregon, and California. Critical habitat is defined under the Endangered Species Act as areas with “physical or biological features essential to conservation of the species”. This revision added 15,910 square miles of marine waters between the 6.1 meter and 200 meter depth contours from the U.S.-Canada border to Point Sur, California, an area which includes portions of Greater Farallones, Cordell Bank and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries (see map).
The Southern Residents are also among the most at-risk marine mammals in the world. This population spends much of the year in the inland waters of Washington where they face a variety of threats including underwater noise and crowding by boat traffic, chemical contaminants, habitat degradation, and declining prey abundance. However, research led by the Northwest Fisheries Science Center has found that the whales often leave the Salish Sea and travel down the West Coast, as far south as the Monterey Bay Area in California. Along the way they prey on Chinook salmon from the Columbia, Klamath, Rogue, Sacramento, and other West Coast rivers. Additionally, they pursue other types of salmon, halibut, groundfish, and other fish species accessible along the outer coast. This critical habitat expansion is targeting these coastal waters that have been shown to be important foraging habitat for Southern Resident killer whales.
For more information about the management and conservation of this population, visit the Saving the Southern Residents Story Map and the NOAA Fisheries Southern Resident Killer Whales information page.
The revised critical habitat for the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales includes portions of Greater Farallones, Cordell Bank and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries.
Link to photo: https://sanctuarysimon.org/dbtools/photo-library/id/5784