Orca Network
Orca Network was established to connect whales and people in the Pacific Northwest. They first got started in 1996. Since then they have been helping to protect the whales through action and advocacy. Orca Network is dedicated to raising awareness about the whales of the Pacific Northwest, and the importance of providing them healthy and safe habitats, and find ways for people to work together to protect the rich, beautiful, diverse habitats and inhabitants of the Salish Sea.
Their projects include Whale Sighting Network; Educational Programs, Presentations, Events, & Advocacy; Langley Whale Center; Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network; and the Campaign to Retire Tokitae/Lolita to the Salish Sea. Stay with us throughout the month of August to learn more about this amazing organization and the great work that they do.
The mission of Orca Network is to connect people with whales of the Pacific Northwest.
Orca Network’s Work
The following are a couple highlights of the impactful work of Orca Network.
Langley Whale Center
The Langley Whale Center gives Orca Network the opportunity to have a public presence on Whidbey Island, in the Salish Sea, to share our excitement about the whales and marine mammals who are our neighbors. The Whale Center in Langley gives visitors and residents alike a chance to learn more about the endangered Southern Resident orcas who visit our area each fall/winter, and about the North Puget Sound Gray Whales, a small, unique population of 10-12 Gray whales who find sustenance in the waters of Saratoga Passage and Possession Sound every March - May.
The purpose of Orca Network's Whale Sighting Network and Education Project is to encourage observation and increase awareness and knowledge about Resident orcas and Bigg’s/Transient orcas, gray whales, humpbacks, minke whales, and other marine mammals in the Salish Sea. We are especially concerned with the critically endangered Southern Resident Community of orcas (J, K and L pods), to foster a stewardship ethic, and motivate a diverse audience to take action to protect and restore these orcas' critical habitat.
Whale Sighting Network
Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network
Central Puget Sound MMSN is a partnership between Orca Network, wildlife veterinarians and biologists, and NOAA Fisheries, with trained staff and volunteers. They respond to marine mammal strandings in Island, Skagit, and North Snohomish counties. They act as a liaison between agencies and the general public. CPSMMSN collects data and specimen for research, testing, and educational purposes.
Toki's Legacy is to:
- Educate others to see and empathize with marine mammals still held for display and entertainment worldwide, and support legislation and policies to alleviate the resulting stresses;
- Gather and circulate the best available information and understanding of the environmental conditions needed by Toki’s family, the Southern Resident Orca Community, as well as all marine mammals and the full panorama of life seeking to survive in and around the Salish Sea;
- Support benign research to better understand the highly evolved cognitive abilities inherent in Orcinus orca, their indelible family relationships, their highly developed cultural traditions and relationships, and their wondrous communicative capabilities;
- Generate awareness and foster actions to reinvigorate and protect the whales’ natural world. Toki’s family, So. Residents orcas, need clean, healthy water, Chinook and other salmon populations need streams and rivers, and the full range of spawning, nurturing, and foraging habitat.
Toki's Legacy
Join us in supporting Orca Network
75% of this month's donations will go towards this month's partner
This month and every month, Wild Boyz Photography will be partnering with one nonprofit. 75% of any donations that we receive during the month will go to the nonprofit. Help Orca Network to connect people with whales in the Pacific Northwest.