Come celebrate Orca Action Month with Patagonia Seattle and local nonprofit partners, Wild Orca and SR3!
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In 2005, the three pods that make up the Southern Resident Orca population were listed as critically endangered. The population continues to struggle, with just 73Â whales left. Join us for an evening dedicated to learning more about our local Orca population.
Doors will open at 6:30 for a happy hour. Enjoy local refreshments and then find a seat a settle in for back to back presentations by Wild Orca and SR3, two local nonprofits working to protect and research our region's unique ecosystem. After both presentations, we will work together to create an art installation that will hang in our store and be apart of the Belltown Art Walk on June 9th!Â
More information to follow...
*Photo by Andrew Burton
Dr. Deborah Giles steers a literal vessel, Wild Orca’s research boat Cheena—named in memory of a cherished canine companion. Also on board are husband Jim, and of course Eba the Whale Dog, a local celebrity. It’s here, from an island in the heart of the Salish Sea that Giles carries out her critical research—monitoring the Southern Resident killer whales’ health.
Learn more about Dr. Deborah Giles here
Learn more about Wild Orca here
Seven-year-old Eba works as a scent-detection dog for Wild Orca, sniffing out the scat of Southern Resident Killer Whales.
Eba can smell scat on the water's surface up to a mile away allowing for the collection of specimen to be noninvasive, an essential value of Wild Orca. From one sample, Eba's human colleagues can detect pregnancies, measure stress levels, identify contaminants, assess diet and generally learn what is impacting the Souther Resident population.
*Photo by Andrew Burton
Casey is a licensed veterinary technician who has a degree in marine biology and a long-standing passion and experience in marine animal medical care, rehabilitation, and conservation.
She has worked in areas of sea turtle rehabilitation, wildlife rehabilitation, and marine mammal rehabilitation for over 12 years. She is an active member of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network in the Puget Sound and works on a variety of marine animals including stranded seal pups, sea otters, and sea lions. Casey is also a trained oil-spill responder.Â
Learn more about SR3Â here
