Grief + starvation = Southern Resident orca extinction

Dear Friend, Only 73 orcas remain after the deaths of Cappuccino and Marina. Stop them from being driven to extinction: Donate $27 or more! If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27]( [Donate $50]( [Donate $100]( [Donate another amount]( Starving. Languishing. And now, mourning. The LAST 73 Southern Resident orcas in the world are suffering and getting weaker by the day. But their lives are about to be put in even greater danger. Two proposed Big Oil and shipping megaprojects are threatening their very existence. One project has now been approved -- but it’s not too late! [Help protect these 73 remaining orcas by standing up to corporate greed: Donate $27 or more today and help us reach our $6,200 goal before the clock strikes midnight!]( These orca pods suffered devastating blows with the deaths of spirited Cappuccino, Marina the matriarch, and now young Ripple. Cappuccino was a playful orca who greeted nearby boaters in his waters and was beloved by the community. Marina was an iconic matriarch who cared for her grandchildren and taught them how to hunt and survive. And Ripple once brought great hope for his pod when he was born, boosting their chance of survival. Now, their deaths are an excruciating loss to the remaining orcas. Now, their grief is driving them further into starvation. Each Southern Resident orca is an integral member of their family. Every loss is felt by the entire pod. But Big Oil and the shipping industry are threatening them all with proposed megaprojects. They would directly impact their habitats and drive them to extinction. Big Oil and the shipping industry are starving orcas to death. Help us fight for their protection and our planet with your $27 donation today! If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27]( [Donate $50]( [Donate $100]( [Donate another amount]( Southern Resident orca populations have been declining since 2006. Chemical pollution and food availability are big drivers of their decline. They depend on Chinook salmon as their main food source. Once abundant in orcas’ ecosystems, the salmon have drastically declined in the last decade. Now, this is driving orcas to starvation, stress, and miscarriages. The two proposed megaprojects would drastically magnify these threats to orcas. The expanded Trans Mountain Pipeline will increase oil tanker traffic in Southern Resident critical habitat SEVEN-FOLD -- from one tanker a week to one per day! Worst of all, it will also be pumping millions of gallons of toxic tar sands oil per day-- the dirtiest kind -- through this already delicate orca habitat. The Roberts Bank T2 shipping terminal project will magnify the problem, increasing cargo ship traffic and disrupting Chinook salmon migration patterns. As a result, it would drive salmon further away from orcas habitat. The noise pollution from the ships will also disrupt the killer whales’ sonar hunting methods, preventing them from finding the few salmon left in the region. And now, the worst has happened: this shipping terminal has recently been approved -- but we can still fight back! The threatened Southern Resident population is just one major oil spill away from extinction. And we know that oil spills are not a matter of “if,” but rather “when.” This is why we need to raise our voices and stand up to Big Oil and the shipping industry, showing them that we will not allow them to put corporate profits over the lives of precious wildlife and the ecosystems that rely on them. Southern Resident orcas are one oil spill away from EXTINCTION. Fight the megaprojects that threaten them and our planet with your contribution of $27 or more. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27]( [Donate $50]( [Donate $100]( [Donate another amount]( Orcas are critical to a thriving ocean habitat and our own health. They release vital nutrients for phytoplankton, which in turn provide half of the oxygen we breathe. At the same time, they absorb hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon each year. We depend on this flow of nutrients for healthy ecosystems and a functioning planet, which is why we must protect these orcas at all costs. Each death in the Southern Resident pods reduces the chances that the remaining orcas survive. With Marina’s death, her children are now three times more likely to die, while her grandchildren are SIX TIMES less likely to survive. With these 73 precious lives at stake and at increased risk, we need to step up our fight to protect them. Southern Resident orcas are in perilous danger. You and I may be some of the last people to share the planet with these magnificent creatures if these disastrous megaprojects are allowed to move forward. That is why we need you by our side, Friend. Your membership gift of $27 or more to Friends of the Earth today will be matched, allowing us to fight these projects and the threats to our planet. Make your contribution now, while orcas still have a fighting chance, and we can stop these projects! Cappuccino and Marina are dead. Don’t let their surviving family members meet the same fate. Make your contribution of $27 or more to Friends of the Earth! If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27]( [Donate $50]( [Donate $100]( [Donate another amount]( Standing with you, Marcie Keever Oceans & 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]( © 2023, Friends of the Earth. All Rights Reserved. [supporter]