Ya dont say...

[LDennis24]

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/lack-salmon-may-not-problem-130002194.html

I guess they will have to come up with a new excuse to close down salmon fishing in some areas. 

[Shrimper]

https://mynorthwest.com/3997930/lack-chinook-salmon-keeps-southern-resident-killer-whale-on-endangered-list/

As much as the salmon whale relationship is studied there is A LOT that is unknown.  I personally believe the SRKW are a scapegoat for a much bigger agenda.

I spend a lot of time on Puget Sound and my personal observations contradict what is blasted out in the media about the SRKW almost 100% of the time.

[Stein]

Apparently anything less than a wild chinook salmon just won't work.  For whatever reason, a million coho won't fill their bellies.  Either that or it has nothing to do with Orcas...

[WSU]

It's not just chinook but what chinook are available.  They have shown a clear preference for better chinook - high fat and bigger. 

It's always seemed dumb that we focus on releasing more Puget Sound chinook - almost all the same basic stock.  Those fish are only here for a couple months, and there's a lot of them when they are here.  As the study says, what about the other 10 months? 

Also, I agree with the whales - I'd much rather eat a 20 pound Columbia summer than a 10 pound Green River stock fish with no fat content.

[LDennis24]

It's not just chinook but what chinook are available.  They have shown a clear preference for better chinook - high fat and bigger. 

It's always seemed dumb that we focus on releasing more Puget Sound chinook - almost all the same basic stock.  Those fish are only here for a couple months, and there's a lot of them when they are here.  As the study says, what about the other 10 months? 

Also, I agree with the whales - I'd much rather eat a 20 pound Columbia summer than a 10 pound Green River stock fish with no fat content.

So at the speed that an orca attacks and kills a salmon, how does it determine which salmon is the more nutritious one? I don't think their sonar picks up fat content. Then again, they do love blubbery seals.   

[Stein]

If the resident orcas ate fur bags, there would be no shortage of food.  For whatever reason, they have a completely different diet than the ones that move around.

[pianoman9701]

Very odd comments with the comparison to shopping in a crowded store. If we ever shop together, which is rare on purpose, I can't hear the rest of the customers over Mrs. Piano. Maybe the female orcas are drowning everyone else out. Ever thought of that, Professor Trites?

[WSU]

I don’t know how they tell. That’s just my understanding from the studies on their poop.

[Alchase]

We use to see them kill seals in Hood Canal often. Don’t know why they won’t take out the sea lions. Maybe it is that salmon are easier prey?
Or maybe Sea Lions taste like crap

With the numbers of Sea Lions available they would have an endless supply of food.

[metlhead]

What we are told is pinniped killing orcas are transient. They travel a lot. The residents are imperiled and have the narrowed diet. I doubt what they say is truth and rather part of another anti- agenda.

[TriggerMike]

So when they go extinct, do we get to resume normal fishing seasons again?

[Orin]

So when they go extinct, do we get to resume normal fishing seasons again?

I went to a seminar on the Southern Residents which turned out to be fascinating. They are a unique sub-species, and even though I'm guessing you are joking, it would be a great failure and a sad day if they do go extinct.   

[2MANY]

It's probably WSDOTs ferries.

[ballpark]

We use to see them kill seals in Hood Canal often. Don’t know why they won’t take out the sea lions. Maybe it is that salmon are easier prey?
Or maybe Sea Lions taste like crap

With the numbers of Sea Lions available they would have an endless supply of food.

TOO many salmon, why eat sea lions when there are so many salmon