August 12, 2021 — The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has extended critical habitat designations for the highly endangered Southern Resident orca population, to cover nearly 16,000 square miles of Pacific waters from Washington south to Point Sur, California.
The whales currently have had critical habitat protected in the inland waters of Washington state, where the Southern orca population of just 75 animals is highly dependent on chinook salmon – stocks that themselves are in danger from habitat loss and pollution in the region.