Southern Resident Orca Recovery
Researchers employ Atlantis ecosystem modeling to evaluate the ecosystem-level effects of the Southern Resident orca recovery actions and external threats in the marine ecosystem of Puget Sound.
Hem Nalini Morzaria-Luna, Long Live the Kings
Elizabeth Fulton, CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere
Chris Harvey, Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Isaac Kaplan, Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Melissa Knox, Department of Economics, University of Washington
Heidi Pethybridge, CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere
Javier Porobic, CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere
Michael Schmidt, Long Live the Kings
In light of the recent high-level efforts to recover Southern Resident orcas in the Salish Sea, the research team will carry out an evaluation of ecosystem-level and economic impacts of recovery actions aimed at enhancing orca population growth and long-term sustainability. Using Atlantis ecosystem models, the researchers will assess the effect of Southern Resident recovery actions on other conservation objectives, the tradeoffs inherent in the proposed recovery actions, and future cumulative threats to population growth. The results will provide policymakers and managers with helpful information about the probability of success and tradeoffs of conservation actions.