Floriography Influences in Music

Applying Conservation Success Stories to Endangered Orcas

Can the successful methods used in the recovery of once endangered animals be applied to saving the endangered Southern Resident orcas in the Puget Sound?

Researcher

Stephanie Larsen

Class of 2023

Problem Statement

There is a problem within the Puget Sound ecosystem, especially regarding one of the orca ecotypes that live there. Despite government action being taken to make guidelines to protect the ecosystem’s endangered Chinook salmon and orcas, their population is still drastically declining. This problem has negatively affected multiple animals, especially an ecotype of orcas, the Southern Residents, because of how they rely on salmon for their food source. However, other animals that live in the Puget Sound, such as Humpback whales and sea lions, have rebounded and are thriving despite the dwindling salmon population. Perhaps a study that investigates what methods are most successful at bringing back endangered species from the brink of extinction and applying these findings to the Southern Residents could remedy this situation.

Significance and Value of Study

This is significant because it could provide information regarding the Puget Sound Ecosystem and show more methods to saving the Southern Residents from going extinct. Researchers in my field of marine biology will care because it will provide more information about new ways to conserve the Puget Sound and keep orca and salmon populations healthy.

Hypothesis and Assumptions

My hypothesis is that the biggest factor to conservation success is through government legislation because of how government involvement has long been a huge factor into bringing about change and is essential into changing laws especially for endangered species. Even though it has already been applied to Southern Residents, I predict that large scale government legislation will be the biggest factor into ensuring success once I have researched other conservation success stories.

Proposed Method of Study

I will be collecting data from a variety of sources involving looking through past sources that recorded historic and current populations of four distinct but very different animal populations, these animals being Humpback whales, California sea lions, Southern sea otters, and Yellowstone's gray wolves. I will be creating a data table detailing what processes and methods were used that brought these populations to a stable level and compare this to what actions have already been done toward the Southern Residents and what has not been done yet.

Definitions and Variables

Ecotype: A group of organisms, often a subdivision of a species.

Pod: A matriarchal social group of whales or dolphins.

Southern Residents: Orca ecotype found in the Puget Sound that only eats salmon and lives in large pods.

Reintroduction: Conservation strategy following the relocation and reestablishment of a species to its historic natural range where it had been driven out of.

Results

Conclusion

Implications

My hypothesis of government legislation being a prevalent tactic used was somewhat correct. However, something that surprised me after I had found my results was how common a theme reintroduction was with bringing back endangered species. Another thing that was surprising to me that I found was that in three out of the four species analyzed, in order to achieve recovery, more than one tactic had to be used. This was surprising to me in a way because of how I initially believed that there would only be one main strategy that was used. Therefore, by finding what is most successful at bringing back endangered species, the best way to approach recovery efforts would be by using multiple conservation strategies so that there is a greater likelihood that the population would bounce back.

The implications of my research could be beneficial to future research done in my field of study. It could especially be helpful to use in multiple conservation efforts because of how it identifies what has been used successfully in the past to bring back endangered species. With what I gathered from my research process, my findings could be pursued further and could be implemented to better help the Southern Resident orca population.

Next Steps

While I used my results to compare my findings to Southern Residents specifically, my research could still potentially be used with multiple different animals and not just with the orcas because of how it identified what trends are present in bringing back endangered animals and can be used for multiple different species so long as the strategies can be applicable to the species.

Key Sources

United States Environmental Protection Agency. Southern Resident Killer Whales. https://www.epa.gov/salish-sea/southern-resident-killer-whales.,

Davidson, H. (2015). Humpback whales make a comeback in Australian waters as numbers rebound. https://ourworld.unu.edu/en/humpback-whales-make-a-comeback-in-australian-waters-as-numbers-rebound

Carswell, L. (2022, July 28). On second chances: The Southern Sea Otter's return to ecological relevance: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. FWS.gov.

Smith, Douglas W., Peterson, Rolf O., & Houston, Douglas B. (2003). Yellowstone after Wolves. BioScience, 53(4), 330.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. https://www.fws.gov/story/2022-07/second-chances-southern-sea-otters-return-ecological-relevance

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