under the Endangered Species Act in 2006. Photo Credit: NOAA Photo LibrarySPECIES AND FOOD WEB

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Orca
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.365.8174; http://www.psp.wa.gov/downloads/SOS2012/sos2012_110812pdfs/SOS2012_VS09_110812.pdf

Killer whales, also called orcas, are among Puget Sound’s most distinctive and charismatic inhabitants. They occupy an important niche at the top of the food web and support a multi-million dollar whale-watching industry. A unique population of orcas lives in and around the Salish Sea, which includes Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Strait of Georgia. Called the Southern Resident Killer Whales, the community once numbered around 200 whales. In the past decade, the population totaled fewer than 90 individuals. While other orca populations prey heavily on marine mammals, resident pods primarily eat fish, relying on Chinook salmon for a large part of their diet. In the late-1990s, Southern Resident Killer Whales experienced a dramatic decline in population size. As a consequence, they were listed as Endangered