Testing whether southern resident killer whales are endangered because of the collapse of winter and spring Chinook populations in California that occurred over a century ago

We will test the hypothesis that southern resident killer whales have been endangered since the late 1800s when mining, logging, dams, pollution, and water diversion destroyed the Chinook populations that returned in the millions to Oregon and California. We will estimate historic run sizes of Chinook salmon available to northern and southern resident killer whales based on catch records and the numbers of cans of Chinook processed at canneries (from California to BC during the 1800s). We will also compare historical seasonal abundances with relative numbers of Chinook returning to spawning rivers today—and will compare seasonal numbers of Chinook needed to sustain resident killer whales by locations to identify when and where the nutritional bottleneck southern resident killer whales are experiencing is occurring—and whether fishing restrictions imposed in BC are ultimately benefitting southern resident killer whales or not.

Faculty Supervisor:

Andrew Trites

Student:

Partner:

Pacific Salmon Foundation

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture; Other services (except public administration); Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: