wild

The first orca taken into captivity that survived almost a full year was a young male, C11, later named "Namu" for the town near where he was captured. Following Namu's captivity, many other orcas in the Northern and Southern Communites were captured to be shipped to marine parks. These captures didn't stop until the early 1970s under protest.

There are now only TWO orcas still alive in captivity from this area. The rest were caught in Iceland, Russia, Argentina and Japan to avoid being wransacked by Pacific Northwest orca lovers. Over the years the population that has suffered the most from these captures in the Southern Community of Orcas, sometimes known as "Salish Sea Orcas". Many orcas were captured or killed in these captures, and the present population is suffering for it, along with the threat of PCBs in the waters of Puget Sound. The Salish Sea Orcas are compirsed of three main pods, known as J, K and L. To learn more on each pod in general, click here.

Wild orcas in the Salish Sea face many envirmental threats. Since the captures stopped its mainly their low numbers and battling the intoxicating PCBs....today the PNW orcas are protected from hunting AND capturing for any reasons. The population is still on a slow but steady decline. Many efforts are being made to stabalize the pods.