It's one of the greatest symbols
of the Pacific Northwest,
the beloved southern
resident killer whale orcas,
who spend time year round in Puget Sound.
It's a spectacular species.
On the brink of extinction,
signaling the demise of much more,
including endangered Chinook salmon,
the orcas main food source.
And the cultural traditions
of indigenous people,
like the socks Weddle,
Indian tribe of the Skagit Basin,
they are salmon people who like the orca,
are suffering from the loss of Chinook.
Their dances are a healing practice,
a way to honor all animals on Earth.
Including Southern resident orcas.
It's been a way of life.
Nina Maltose is the chairman
of the Socks Seattle tribe. The
orca whales to us, we see them as our
brothers and sisters of the water.
In the sense that we're
fighting for the same thing,
we're fighting for a food source.
We're fighting for a way of life.
And the only difference between us and
them is that we have a voice and they
don't. So what does this Gadget
River and the dams in it have
to do with the health of the
orca out here in the Salish Sea?
A lot the Schedule River produces more
Chinook salmon for the orca than any
other river in Puget Sound, but tribal.
An government scientists say the
river could produce a lot more fish
for whales if Seattle City Light
would buck up and do its part.
In a six month investigation,
KING5 is exposed that city light
has touted a narrative for decades that their
dams don't hurt Chinook
salmon. The prize meal
for orcas because they were built
above nature, made fish barriers,
but we found the entire Pacific
Northwest scientific community
doesn't believe that story anymore.
In public documents, Upper Skagit,
Indian tribe biologists wrote
that's a false narrative,
and the federal agency NOAA Fisheries
wrote Big Rocks aren't to blame.
Are blocking fish,
but the dam is the conclusive
barrier to salmon getting upstream.
Know also wrote this gadget.
River is among the most important
sources of Chinook needed
for the recovery of orcas.
Well, I think the entire public
was misled. The orca community went
along with that. Howard Garrett is
the founder of the Orca Network
based on Whidbey Island.
He says there's been a lost
opportunity on this gadget that
fish passage through the dams,
like fish ladders to help Chinook
access miles of blocked off habitat.
It could be a key benefit for
the starving whales. There's
been this kind of cover up
and now we're seeing it was
wrong and it has deprived us.
Us humans, and certainly the tribes,
and especially to me,
the orcas of their essential sustenance.
Was it intentional? Of
course it wasn't intentional.
Susannah Deborah Smith is the general
manager and CEO of Seattle City
light. No misleading intended.
I think most knowledge in
this world is cumulative.
We learn, we grow, we study.
We learn some more.
We grow, we study,
and that's where we are
right now. Below
their hydroelectric dams,
the utility is focused on helping
salmon through habitat restoration.
But that plan hasn't improved outcomes
for fish or the whales.
In 2005, the federal government listed
the orca as an endangered species,
but they are not recovering.
The population grew to a high of
89 Wales in 2006 to just 74 alive.
Now the main problem Southern residents
are facing is lack of food.
Doctor David Bain is
the chief scientist for the
Seattle based Orca Conservancy.
He says restoration projects help,
but the fastest route to help the whales.
Is to access new habitat for Chinook. There's
a lot of. High quality habitat above
the dams the fish could reach them.
You know we could see much larger
production out in schedule.
2018 this whale named J.
35 or TALEQUAH brought international
attention to the plight of
the Pacific Northwest Orca.
Tell Akwa carried her dead calf
throughout the Salish Sea for 17 days,
an unprecedented showing
of grief over the death of
her baby, J-35. Talequah certainly
showed everyone what happens when
they don't get enough to eat,
so every little bit, every morsel,
every every new source of
Chinook salmon especially.
That you can bring into their
habitat is going to help her and
all the other Southern residents.
Seattle City Light says they
are working to change conditions on
this gadget for salmon and the orcas
who depend on the river, I think we all
have a role to play and so we're
committed to doing our part and
continuing to learn more as we all are
about what has put this species in peril
and how we can help bring it back.
I don't care about being right.
I care about doing right. I
think it's a lot of talk.
I think actions speak louder,
louder than words.
No one has more at stake than Native
Americans who've called the Skagit
Valley home for thousands of years.
They're watching Sam and the very
center of their culture disappear,
and in turn, the cherished orca.
I believe that the
Schedule River is taking care of Seattle
city lights financially and every which way,
and I think that it's Seattle city lights
time to take care of the Schedule River.
After two years of fighting,
Seattle City Light agreed in
February to study the idea of fish
passage under a new dam license.
Their current license expires in 2025.
As for the orca, of course there
are many conditions contributing to
the fact that they are struggling.
According to NOAA fisheries
number one is lack of food.
The second reason is toxins in the marine
environment and also vessel noise.
NOAA fisheries also wrote in public
documents that the dams I'm sorry,
the orca are without question
quote adversely influenced by the
dams because they hurt Chinook
salmon that the whales depend on
along the shores of Puget Sound.
I'm Susannah frame reporting live in Seattle.