Lasting Legacies

During Orca Month in 2023, through stories and videos, we'll honor the Lasting Legacies of the Southern Resident orcas and celebrate the legacy of the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act.

Coming soon!

Cindy Hansen

Jun 30, 2021

A Superpod, a Greeting, and a Goodbye

A superpod is a time of great joy and celebration, both for the Southern Resident orcas and the humans who love them. When all three pods...

Dave Ellifrit

Jun 30, 2021

Momma Says… A Short L35 Story from 1995

Clockwise top left: L1 and L35, L1 and L35, L35 Breach, L1 breach 1995, photo by Mindy Zushlag, L1 and L35 1995, L35 with rest of L pod...

Amy Eberling

Jun 29, 2021

An Orca is an Orca

Many think an orca is an orca. How lucky are we to know that couldn't be further from the truth.

Sara Hysong-Shimazu

Jun 28, 2021

L25 Ocean Sun - The Babysitter

It was a foggy day out in the Strait of Juan de Fuca years ago when L119 was just about a year old and L113 was just a few years older....

John Boyd

Jun 27, 2021

A Memorable Superpod Gathering

Superpod photo by John Boyd, Superpod recording by Monika Wieland Shields. I remember the day so vividly. We were on the west side near...

Ariel Yseth

Jun 26, 2021

L121 Windsong

Windsong is very in tune with his surroundings, tactile and curious. I first met him in August of 2016 when he was a year and a half old....

Brooke McKinley

Jun 25, 2021

L119 Joy

L119 Joy Story and Photos by Brooke McKinley After spending 15 years working on the Salish Sea as a whale watching naturalist, I have had...

Gayle Swigart

Jun 24, 2021

L87 Onyx

On the Summer Solstice of 2015, friends and I received the words we anxiously await when on San Juan Island: orcas are northbound in Haro...

Orca Month

Jun 23, 2021

L79 Skana, Chief of the Undersea World

In the late ‘’80’s and early ’90’s I would accompany my husband on his business trips to Vancouver, British Columbia. While he worked I...

Orca Month

Jun 22, 2021

Beautiful Powerful, L57 Faith

L57 Faith Bonnie Gretz 9/4/06: I was on San Juan Island and out on a whale watch aboard Odyssey. On a warm, sunny day with glassy smooth...

Cindy Hansen

Jun 21, 2021

The Extraordinary Life of K7 Lummi

Lummi, K7 was the monumental matriarch of K Pod, and one of the most easily recognizable whales in the Southern Resident community, with...

Bonnie Gretz

Jun 20, 2021

Summer Solstice Superpod

6/21/08: In the afternoon, I was out on Western Prince. First we met up with some of J pod near Cattle Point, and then most of J, K and...

Ariel Yseth

Jun 19, 2021

L82 Kasatka

What I love most about Kasatka is her calm, quiet presence. She is the oldest daughter and is really starting to take the reins of her...

Bonnie Gretz

Jun 18, 2021

L43 Jelly Roll L95 Nigel

7/11/99: While attending "Whale School" in the San Juan Islands with a professor from Orange Coast College in California, Dennis Kelly, I...

Debbie Stewart

Jun 17, 2021

K44 Ripple

It was a glorious Independence Day in 2011. Azure blue skies with a few wispy clouds provided a canopy over Tahoma and Kulshan bursting...