Événement

Recovering the Southern Residents: lessons learned from other populations

With just 75 individuals in the population, the southern resident orcas are in danger of going extinct. Is it too late? What will it take to recover J, K and L pods, and what can we learn from similar efforts with other populations?

Dr. Tim Ragen will review the status of the southern resident killer whale population and then review conservation efforts for other marine mammals to highlight lessons learned and relevant to killer whale conservation.

About the Speaker

Tim Ragen earned a Ph.D. in oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, California in 1990. His dissertation focused on field and modeling studies of the northern fur seal. After earning his degree he completed a National Research Council Associateship at the U.S. National Marine Mammal Laboratory, where he continued modeling studies of the northern fur seal. In 1991 he joined the Honolulu Laboratory of the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, where he worked in the Hawaiian monk seal recovery program. In 1997 he took a management position as the Steller sea lion recovery coordinator for the Alaska Region, National Marine Fisheries Service. There his work focused primarily on indirect interactions between the endangered Steller sea lion and the Alaska groundfish fisheries. In 2000 he moved to Washington, D.C., to serve as Scientific Program Director for the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission. In 2006 he was appointed the Commissions Executive Director. He retired from that position in June 2013 and currently lives in Anacortes, WA.

About The Whale Trail

The Whale Trail (www.thewhaletrail.org) is a series of sites to view orcas and other marine mammals from shore. Our mission is to inspire appreciation and stewardship of whales and our marine environment.

Through our current sites and signs, including two on every Washington State ferry, we reach more than 50 million people each year. The Whale Trail is adding new sites along the North American west coast, from California to British Columbia.

The Whale Trail is led by a core team of partners including NOAA Fisheries, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Seattle Aquarium, the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, the Whale Museum. Donna Sandstrom is the Founder and Executive Director. She is also a member of Governor Inslee's Task Force on SRKW Recovery.

The Whale Trail is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, registered in Washington State. Join us!