Whale Scout Podcast!
Head over to the Whale Scout Podcast to listen to Alex talk about the documentary, our time filming and where things are up to now!
Our Story
Our story is one of friendship, family, fight and struggle but most importantly, inspiration and hope.
Alex, Maisie and Maria are a small team working to create a documentary that will inspire people worldwide to take action and prevent the extinction of the Southern resident killer whales. This mesmerising population are one of 10 genetically distinct ecotypes of orcas in the world. They are and always have been a figurehead species for both visitors and residents of the Pacific Northwest alike. However, facing numerous threats to their existence, they were listed as an endangered species in 2005 with a dangerously low population and yet have continued to decline since. WE as humans are impacting their environment at such a level that we have almost completely depleted the main food source that these orcas rely on - Chinook salmon.
Why aren't they recovering?
What more can be done?
Why , when so many of the solutions are clear, is effective action not being taken?
Together, we want to bring you up close and personal with this family of whales, the challenges they are facing, the people who are dedicating their lives to saving them and those that are determining their fate.
J Pod
J Pod currently has 22 individuals.
13 female (1 post-reproductive, 2 under 12 years old and one infant) and;
9 males (4 adult and 5 under 12 years old).
In the last 2 years they have suffered huge losses, 2 very young whales, an adult male and most recently J17 Princess Angeline, their matriarch.
Princess Angeline was named after the daughter of Chief Seattle for whom Seattle was named after. She was 42 years old. She has 3 living offspring, J35 Tahlequah, J44 Moby and J53 Kiki and a daughter, J28 Polaris, who died in 2016. J28 had a 9 month old son J54 Dipper, who despite the other whales attempting to feed him, sadly followed.
K POD
K Pod is the smallest pod with only 17 individuals.
8 females (2 post-reproductive and 1 under 12 years old) and;
9 males (6 adults and 3 under 12 years old).
There hasn't been a successful calf in K Pod since 2011 despite there being 5 females that should be reproducing.
Their most recent loss is K25 Scoter, a 28 year old male.
L pod
L Pod presently has 34 individuals.
17 females (5 post-reproductive and 3 under 12 years old);
16 males (6 adult and 10 under 12 years old) and;
1 infant (L124 - Whistle, born to L77 Matia) whose gender is yet to be identified!
The most recent loss to this pod was L84 (Nyssa), a 29 year old male.
Our Kickstarter Teaser
How You Can Help
Thank you for visiting our website and wanting to support us in our efforts to save the Southern resident killer whales from extinction!
An easy way to help is to share the plight of the Southern residents with a friend!
You can donate by visiting our 'Shop' and purchasing one of our donate options.
Purchasing merchandise is another way to support us and share the story of these orcas with others! If you do buy an item don't forget to post and tag us on Instagram and use the hashtags #searchingforchinook #nofishnoblackfish
#IntoTheDepthsOfHunger
Don't forget to follow us at @searchingforchinook on Instagram as well as our dear friends and orca heroes @pnwprotectors
Most importantly keep an eye out for updates on the documentary release, we can't wait for you all to see it!
*All donations and purchases go directly to funding the documentary. At this stage we remain in post production which is everything between finishing filming and the final product being complete. Some examples of what funds are currently required for include;
- audio editing
- image editing
- editing suite and equipment
- marketing planning
- acquiring music and musical scoring
- distribution planning
You can CONTACT US at searchingforchinook@gmail.com