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“They aren’t getting their prey, and that’s the problem,” said Michael Weiss, a field biologist with the Center for Whale Research.
Weiss said this has been going on since the ’90s. “That’s when the population was close to 100 whales, and since then, there’s been a steady decline.”
The South Fork Nooksack River in northwest Washington state is home to nine species of Pacific salmon, including Chinook, according to NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information.
The area used to have an abundance of fish, but the numbers have drastically declined because of climate change. Weiss said overfishing also plays a role.
The Southern Resident orca population is a large extended family made up of three social groups, called pods and named J, K and L. The three missing whales are J17, K25 and L84.
K25, a 28-year-old adult male, was also not in good health last winter, according to the center. He has two sisters, K20 and K27, as well as a brother, K34.
The 29-year-old male, L84, was the last of a female lineage of 11 whales, 10 of whom have died. The center said none of the whales from L pod has entered the Salish Sea all summer.
Weiss said the center is going to continue its research efforts and advocating for funding for habitat repair in salmon spawning areas.
CNN’s Gabrielle Sorto contributed to this report.
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