2024 Orca Recovery Events

Our seventh annual Orca Recovery celebration was tons of fun! Two educational events were conducted, a native plant walk and a webinar on installation of log jams on the Elwha River which can be viewed HERE. Two volunteer tree planting events were also held, with the help of our partner the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, and over 1,350 trees were planted along the Elwha River to help create salmon habitat.

For more information on actions you can incorporate into your daily activities to help the plight of the Southern Resident Orca please visit the website of our partner agency, Better Ground.

2023 Orca Recovery Events

Our sixth annual Orca Recovery celebration was a huge success! We teamed up with partners to hold 6 educational and two volunteer events designed to bring awareness to the plight of the southern resident orca whale and aid in salmon recovery efforts since the orca whale’s diet is comprised heavily of salmon.

View our 2023 Accomplishments & Photos from the events

2022 Orca Recovery on the Olympic Peninsula

Thank you to the over 205 individuals that participated in our Fall 2022 Orca Recovery events!!!

With our excellent partners, we hosted 5 educational programs and 5 volunteer restoration events throughout the Olympic Peninsula to bring awareness to the plight of the southern resident Orca whale. These events were designed to aid in salmon recovery efforts since the Orca whale’s diet is comprised heavily of salmon.

Check out our 2022 ACCOMPLISHMENTS & PHOTOS

2021 Orca Recovery Efforts

Thank you to the 175 individuals who participated in our October 2021 Orca Recovery Week events!!!

With our excellent partners, we hosted 3 educational programs and 3 volunteer restoration events throughout the Olympic Peninsula to bring awareness to the plight of the southern resident Orca whale. These events were designed to aid in salmon recovery efforts since the Orca whale’s diet is comprised heavily of salmon. Together we got an amazing amount of restoration work completed. View the 2021 Orca Recovery Week accomplishments and photos HERE!

2020 Orca Recovery Efforts

With the population of Southern Resident Orca Whales at a 30-year low, the need for large scale restoration efforts has become crucial. Accustomed to being boots on the ground organizations, Washington conservation districts saw the need to mobilize people into action and created Orca Recovery Day, a day of action that has brought people throughout the Pacific Northwest together to restore habitat, reduce stormwater pollution, and provide education.

On October 17, 2020 conservation districts around the state, along with dozens of non-profit and agency partners, came together for the third annual Orca Recovery Day to provide opportunities for people to take action on this critical issue. 

Locally, Clallam Conservation District and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe are teaming up to support orca recovery by focusing restoration efforts on the Elwha River. The removal of the Lower Elwha Dam in 2011 and the upper Glines Canyon Dam in 2014 gave unrestricted passage to Chinook salmon, as well as other fish species, to make their way through the Elwha River system. The removal of the dams left roughly 600 acres of former lakebeds to return to native forests for the freed up Elwha River to flow through. Harsh growing conditions, such as no top soil, have made establishing conifer trees a challenge in the old lakebeds. Restoration plantings, such as those being planned for Orca Recovery Day, are crucial to help accelerate restoration of fish habitat in the Elwha River for both salmon and orca recovery.

In 2020 volunteers helped plant 2,000 conifer trees in the former Lake Aldwell reservoir for Orca Recovery Day. With time, these trees will provide vital shade to the river, and contribute large woody debris to create valuable instream fish habitat. This habitat will benefit the endangered Chinook salmon, as well as other fish species, which in turn will help the plight of the endangered Southern Resident Killer whales.

Visit www.betterground.org/ord to find more detailed information on Orca Recovery Day throughout Washington state, a detailed interactive story map of the issues facing Southern Resident Orcas, and actions people can take daily or at their own homes to positively impact the recovery of the endangered Orca whales.

Orca Numbers in the Pacific Northwest

The summer of 2020 showed some promising signs of improvement for the Southern Resident Killer Whales (orcas) that call Puget Sound home, however they remain critically endangered due to malnutrition, polluted waters, and stress from boat traffic.

The main threat to local orca whales remains malnutrition due to their primary food source, Chinook (king) salmon, also being endangered. Salmon comprise 80 percent of the orca whale’s diet, so with Puget Sound salmon populations a fraction of what they used to be, orcas are having a difficult time finding food. To learn more about what you can do to help the plight of the orcas please visit https://betterground.org/in-your-community/events/ord/actions-you-can-take/