The creation of a Recovery Plan is an important and required step following a species’ listing under the Endangered Species Act. The plan is generally created with input from federal, state, local, nongovernmental and tribal sources. It serves as a roadmap for recovery and outlines the actions necessary to restore the wild populations and the habitat that supports them, with the ultimate goal of recovering the species to the point they can be removed from the endangered species list.
The Recovery Plan for Southern Resident Killer Whales, completed in 2008, identifies the knowns and unknowns about the Southern Residents, including listing the main threats as prey availability, contaminants, vessel effects, oil spills, and small population size.
Check out the story below to read a blog post on the Recovery Plan for Southern Resident Killer Whales.
Video: J Pod, San Juan Island ©Cindy Hansen.
Recovery Plan for Southern Resident Killer Whales
The creation of a Recovery Plan is an important and required step following a species’ listing under the Endangered Species Act. The plan is generally created with input from federal, state, local, nongovernmental and tribal sources. It serves as a roadmap for recovery and outlines the actions necessary to restore the wild populations and the habitat that supports them, with the ultimate goal of recovering the species to the point they can be removed from the endangered species list. As part of tracking their progress, NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency that oversees the management and recovery of the Southern Residents, reviews their ESA listing and progress on the Recovery Plan at least every five years. This review can determine whether recovery is on track, identifies accomplishments and challenges, and makes a recommendation on a status change (or not) under the ESA.
The Recovery Plan for Southern Resident Killer Whales, completed in 2008, identifies the knowns and unknowns about the Southern Residents, including listing the main threats as prey availability, contaminants, vessel effects, oil spills, and small population size. The plan identifies a range of actions to address these threats and lists a recovery goal of 2.3 percent growth per year for 28 years. This number is based on a positive average growth rate through two generations. Unfortunately, we are far from achieving this goal, and while there have been hopeful periods of many new calves, overall the population has continued to decline since being listed in 2005, with only 73 individuals remaining. While the Endangered Species Act is an incredible piece of legislation that is responsible for saving many species from extinction - including some that share the orcas’ ocean home - it is clear that for the Southern Residents, a Recovery Plan alone is not enough to reach the ultimate goal of removal from the Endangered Species List. To be successful, the plan needs sufficient funding for implementation, a strong body of scientific data to inform the best path forward, political support and willingness to make the changes identified in the plan, and partnerships between governmental, tribal, and nongovernmental entities, as well as the public sector. We can all do our part by reaching out to NOAA and our elected officials at every level, urging them to dedicate the resources and have the will necessary to fully implement the recovery plan and lead to recovery of the Southern Resident orcas.
Follow this link to read the Recovery Plan for Southern Resident Killer Whales: https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/15975
Photo: Recovery Plan for Southern Resident Killer Whales ©National Marine Fisheries Service.