Scientists are worried about the fate of killer whale populations off the coasts of southern B.C. and northern Washington state. Some of the whales are disappearing. This has the scientists tossing around words like "extinction."

From  The Oct. 29Globe and Mail:

Although no bodies have been found, it's thought that the whales, which rarely stray from the group, have died, perhaps tipping a key population toward extinction.

And scientists say the worst is yet to come for the southern resident orcas and a second, separate population known as the northern residents, which are both heading into winter undernourished because there are so few salmon to feed on.

"It's been a bad summer for both the northern and southern residents. So we expect more mortalities this coming winter," Lance Barrett-Lennard, an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia and co-chair of a federally appointed orca recovery team, said yesterday. ...

Gwen Barlee, policy director for the Wilderness Committee, a B.C.-based environmental group, said resident orcas face a number of problems, but the biggest is a lack of their primary prey, chinook salmon.

"It's a sad story. I'm just hoping this isn't a fatal blow to southern residents," Ms. Barlee said of the recent losses.

"It looks like the whales have been starving to death ... so we need to take immediate steps to protect salmon stocks that they depend on, especially chinook. We also need to be taking steps to protect critical habitat, to protect them from sonar and boat traffic, we need to protect them from toxins that are accumulating in these whales," she said.

"If we value these whales, the federal government will step up to the plate and bloody well do something. ..."