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From state task forces and regulations, to nonprofits, various eyes are on Puget Sound with hopes that the region’s iconic orcas will survive.

Howard Garrett with the Orca Network told 成人X站 Radio’s Dave Ross that there are some signs that orcas are improving, but no one can say for sure.

New photos show orca’s health continues to decline

鈥淲ell, it remains to be seen,鈥� Garrett said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had two new babies this year; a new L pod calf in January, and a J pod calf in June. But we鈥檝e also lost two adults in their prime 鈥� a male and a female. And we haven鈥檛 seen almost all of them since winter. J and K pods have poked their head in for a total of five days in the spring and summer. That鈥檚 unheard of. And L pod hasn鈥檛 been seen since January. So we don鈥檛 know how they are doing out there.鈥�

Part of the fight to help the Northwest’s orcas is being waged across the country in Florida. The Orca Network has to bring Tokitae — also called — back to the Northwest. The killer whale was first captured in 1970 near Whidbey Island, when she was about four years old. For nearly 50 years now, she has been performing in a small tank. She currently resides and performs at the Miami Seaquarium.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a miracle she鈥檚 still alive,” Garrett said. “It鈥檚 a tribute to her strength, her persistence and her stamina. And maybe her desire to come home. It鈥檚 almost 50 years that she has been in that tank in Miami, performing twice a day on demand, fed fish for each performance. Absolutely sterile environment, just bathtub walls around her. How does she maintain her mental and physical health? Yet, somehow she does. So she鈥檚 kind of an inspiration for being able to persevere in very harsh circumstances.鈥�

Transient orca seen feeding on gray whale near Whidbey Island

Garrett notes that the movement to bring Tokitae home has been growing. In recent years, he says, the Lummi Nation’s council voted unanimously to

鈥淚t鈥檚 their sacred obligation, as a relative who was kidnapped and being incarcerated in Miami all these years. She belongs to them, as their family. And they treat her as family.鈥�