Global News - November 2007

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Dam removal 'vital' to help threatened killer whales

Mon 26 November 2007 13:45 UK — North America,Marine Wildlife

Leading scientists and whale experts have called for the removal of four dams blocking the route of salmon in an area that is home to a number of endangered killer whales.

The bypassing of four dams in the south of the Puget Sound, in the US north-west, is vital to ensure the inlet's killer whale population can continue to feed on the salmon which traditionally travel along the Snake River, scientists have told the US fisheries service.

Six leading killer whale experts have called on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and local members of Congress, to introduce changes that would reverse the effect of the dams on salmon runs, with resulting benefits for the area's population of orcas, BYM News reported.

"Restoring Columbia River Chinook salmon is the single most important thing we can do to ensure the future survival of the Southern Resident Community of killer whales," Dr Rich Osborne, a research associate, told the website.

"We cannot hope to restore the killer whale population without also restoring the salmon upon which these whales have depended for thousands of years. Their futures are intricately linked," he added.

According to the website there are 88 killer whales directly affected by the four dams in the lower Snake River area.

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