Great news from the Pacific Northwest! Two calves have been born to orca mothers in the critically endangered southern resident population. One of the new mothers is Tahlequah (J35), heartbreakingly carried her newborn calf for days after they died back in 2018. Her tour of grief awoke the world to the plight of these orcas, and that’s why we’re delighted to share that her newborn calf is healthy and spunky! The two newborns join another two baby orcas who were born last year, bringing the population to 74 orcas. This is encouraging news, but these southern resident orcas still face many challenges. That’s why we’re so grateful to have you with us fighting to save wildlife like these orcas. The dedication of supporters like you is making a difference by empowering life-saving measures to save southern resident orcas like Tahlequah and her newborn calf. Just look at what we’ve accomplished: - Defenders and our supporters have helped pass new state legislation to ensure boaters give the orcas more space and to slow down around the whales, reducing disturbance from vessels;
- Through the Orcas Love Raingardens program, we’ve helped to install and maintain 14 raingardens at ten public schools in Tacoma, WA to capture rainwater and prevent toxic runoff from washing into the sea – with another ten gardens planned;
- And we joined other groups, agencies and businesses in Washington, DC last year to secure an increase in federal funding for Salish Sea restoration projects. These included the removal of dams on the Pilchuck and Middle Fork Nooksack rivers, which will help provide more salmon to orcas.
We still have a long way to go to help these orcas recover, but these new births are a source of great hope to wildlife lovers like you and me. Today, please take a moment to join us in celebrating these orca moms – and we’ll keep you updated as we continue to fight for these amazing animals, and otherwise across the country. Thank you for being a partner in this important work. With gratitude, | 
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