by KOMO News Staff
Fri, December 9th 2022, 3:06 PM PST

SEATTLE, Wash. — Gov. Jay Inslee and the Quiet Sound program celebrated the progress made in protecting orcas in Puget Sound on Friday at the Seattle Aquarium.

The Quiet Sound has been advocating for increased funding for salmon habitat restoration efforts, eliminating toxic pollution, and reducing underwater noise and disturbances.

Noise from ships poses a threat to the whales as orcas primarily use sound — including echolocation — to hunt for food, orient and communicate. Ship noise can mask the whale calls, effectively blinding the mammals. The population of resident killer whales in the waters of the Pacific Northwest and southwestern British Columbia has declined to 73 individuals.

“I think we can celebrate that in the first year of the Quiet Sound we’ve got 69% voluntary compliance of our ships coming in to a quiet Puget Sound,” Inslee said. “Isn’t that a great achievement in the first year?”

Washington state is part of the Quiet Sound trial program on the voluntary slowdown for container ships, tankers, freighters, cruise ships and car carriers.

The slowdown is estimated to add between 10 minutes to 20 minutes of ships’ travel time, depending on their usual speed. Vehicle carriers, cruise ships, and container vessels are being asked to travel 14.5 knots or less and bulkers and tankers are being asked to travel 11 knots or less.

Canadian and American government agencies have identified physical and acoustic disturbance as one of the key threats to the survival of the fish-eating killer whales, along with a lack of prey and water pollution.

The Quiet Sound was also able to help pass the National Defense Authorization Act at the federal level.

It gives the coast guard the opportunity to help reduce conflicts between ships and whales.

See the original post Here.