February Environmental Education Topic: Orcas in the Salish Sea!The Southern Resident Orcas, pods J, K, and L, number 88 individuals and are listed as endangered. These amazing marine mammals are intimately affected by our actions. Living in King County we see orca imagery everywhere. Why not tie a story to the icon through information and investigation?
Southern Resident Orca Facts (from The Center for Whale Research)
-The Salish Sea includes the Georgia Strait, Juan de Fuca Strait, and Puget Sound
-Orcas are commonly seen from June-September. J-Pod can be observed in our area throughout the year, while K and L pods travel farther during the winter and have been observed off the coast of Vancouver Island and as far south as Monterey, California
-Resident Orcas eat fish (salmon, herring, rockfish)
-Male Orcas can live past their 30s, females past their 50s
-Orca society is matriarchial; male and female offspring remaining with their mothers
-Orcas locate prey using echolocationn
-The Southern Resident Population was listed as endangered in 2005. Factors affecting population size may include pollution, low salmon numbers, and noise disturbances
-Other commonly observed whales and dolphins in the Salish Sea: minke whale, humpback whale, gray whale, Dall's porpoise, harbor porpoise, and Pacific white-sided dolphin
Activities
Sounds in the Sea
Using internet resources or CD's you can introduce Club kids to whale and other marine sounds. Whale singing can be so beautiful and haunting. How might boat noises affect whale communication?
Use a pen to draw lines while listening. Are the lines loopey, jagged, tight, straight, irregular? Use different colored pens for different audio tracks on the same sheet of paper and create an acoustic rainbow.Go to these sites for audio information and samples: http://www.blogger.com/www.OrcaSound.net and http://www.dosits.org/gallery/intro.htm and http://www.whaleresearch.com/audio_video.html
The Seattle Public Library has a Songs of the Humpback Whale CD you can check out. Very Cool!
Adopt a Whale
You can adopt a whale through The Whale Museum and receive information and facts, adoption certificates, monthly updates, posters, photos. geneaology chart, and classroom activity.
IslandWood's Under The Sound Video
The wonderful minds at IslandWood, Rotary, and Walllingford (Pat, Clancey, Sheely, Alisha, Grant, Adam, and Khan) created activities to accompany a short video introducing life in the Puget Sound. You can find these games, art projects, and science investigations on the positiveplace.net site. There is something here for every Club and any program time, indoors and out. Contact Christine, cmorris@positiveplace.org, for a copy of the video.
Resources
-Read Orcas of the Salish Sea to learn more about their natural his
-Visit Orca Network for information, news, photos, resources, links, and more
-Orca Network provides Killer Whale Tales activity guides
-Go to David Jamison's Sea Life Gallery for photos and information
-Visit the Puget Sound Marine Life page to find photos of your favorite local creature from tiny diatom to tremendous gray whale.
-Encourage kids on the computer to check out The Whale Museum's interactive Gentle Giants of the Salish Sea curriculum
-Killer Whale Tales.Org brings storytelling and experiential science activities to groups
-Centrum's Water World Camp and Whale Camp in Port Townsend offer scholarships
-Check out People for Puget Sound's Passport and Puget Sound Explorer Guide
-Watch this Frontline report on pollution in Puget Sound: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/poisonedwaters/
