Endangered orcas are on the brink: special match opportunity can help

Dear Friend, Stop Big Oil from wiping out Southern Resident Killer Whales: Donate $27 or more today and you will have double the impact. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $5/month immediately]( Marina, the orca matriarch, is presumed dead. Her death puts her entire family at increased risk -- and they were already just one oil spill away from extinction. [We need to act immediately to protect Marina's family. Please rush a $27 tax-deductible donation to Friends of the Earth and your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $667,000 -- but only until midnight on December 31st!]( The majestic Southern Resident Killer Whales were once a common sight in the waters of Washington and British Columbia. Now, they are struggling to survive -- only 73 remain. But two massive, proposed projects threaten these endangered creatures -- the Roberts Bank T2 shipping terminal and the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion. There is no way around it. The only way to save orcas from extinction is to stop disastrous megaprojects in their tracks. Stop Big Polluters from wiping out Southern Resident Killer Whales: Donate $27 to Friends of the Earth and make double the impact today. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $5/month immediately]( The Roberts Bank T2 project is a massive, proposed container shipping facility that developers want to build at the mouth of British Columbia’s Fraser River. If built, it could wipe out Chinook salmon -- the main food source that Southern Resident Killer Whales depend on. Scientists agree that Roberts Bank will disrupt the migration patterns of Chinook salmon. It will force young salmon into open ocean waters before they are strong enough -- creating a chronic lack of food for the 73 Southern Resident Whales that remain, including three vulnerable calves. The Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion would do more of the same, pumping 890,000 barrels per day of toxic tar sands oil -- the dirtiest kind. It would exponentially increase shipping in the Southern Resident critical habitat from 60 to 400 oil tankers per year. This would be a ticking time-bomb of toxic pollution, just waiting to spill. Shipping traffic disrupts orcas, the sonar they rely on to forage for food, and their food source itself at a time when many orcas are already starving. Take action to protect endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales, the Chinook salmon they rely on, and our planet. Make your contribution of $27 or more now, while you can make twice the difference. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $5/month immediately]( Southern Resident Killer Whales have long been struggling to survive. Made up of only three pods, tightly-knit family groups, their mortality rate is increasing, and their birth rate is decreasing as the whales become skinnier and more malnourished. Experts say that a lack of salmon -- and resulting hunger and stress -- has kept them from reproducing successfully. They are also threatened by pollution, which affects their health, and underwater noise from shipping, which disrupts the echolocation they use to hunt. A study released this year by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that shipping vessels coming within 1,200 feet of whales forces them to change their feeding habits dramatically. Some stop feeding entirely. Two-thirds of calves born to Marina’s remaining pods do not survive -- only one of these whales is still alive today. The odds were already against these endangered orcas, but the Roberts Bank terminal would magnify every threat these orcas face. And just one oil spill could wipe out this entire population of whales. That’s why we need your help. Every species is important, but orcas play a special and irreplaceable role in our ecological systems: Whales and other large sea animals are vital in combating climate change and protecting our own future. Whales serve as ecosystem engineers and provide crucial nutrients to phytoplankton -- tiny ocean plants that produce over 50% of our oxygen, sequester hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon per year, and make up the foundation of the marine food system upon which all ocean life depends. We are interdependent: We rely on these whales for our future -- just as they are counting on us now. Endangered Chinook salmon are another keystone species, vital to their ecosystems and necessary for the survival of these orcas. With their food supply dwindling, the whales are getting skinnier and skinnier. We still have a chance to save these incredible creatures, but time is running out. Your tax-deductible membership gift of $27 or more to Friends of the Earth will help us fight for the whales in the Pacific Northwest, other vulnerable species, and the planet. We are pushing the Biden administration to expand protections at every level. But it’s an uphill battle -- and if we don’t stop these latest projects, it may not be enough. We’ve stopped big threats to these whales before: People power and donations from members like you can make the difference. The fate of Southern Resident Killer Whales hangs in the balance. Stop Big Oil and the shipping industry from wiping out Chinook salmon, Southern Resident Killer Whales, and our ecosystems. Support Friends of the Earth with a $27 tax-deductible donation and it will be matched, dollar-for-dollar. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $5/month immediately]( Standing with you, Marcie Keever, Oceans and vessels program director, Friends of the Earth Contact Us: Friends of the Earth U.S. Washington, D.C. | Berkeley, CA 1-877-843-8687 [Contact us]( Email Preferences: [Click here to unsubscribe]( Learn more: www.foe.org/news www.foe.org/about-us www.foeaction.org Connect: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Flickr]( © 2021, Friends of the Earth. All Rights Reserved. [supporter]