As Southern Resident killer whales spend less time in Puget Sound waters, researchers are turning to an unusual member of their team for help understanding the challenges facing the endangered population: an 11-year-old rescue dog named Eba.
Researchers with SeaDoc Society say Southern Resident orcas have been largely absent from local waters this year, a troubling sign as scientists continue to monitor the population’s health.
“It’s been bad multiple years now, but really bad this year,” SeaDoc Society researcher Deborah Giles said. “That’s evidenced by the fact that we’ve hardly had the Southern Residents in the waters at all.”…