Starvation is driving orcas closer to extinction

Dear Friend, Ripple is now dead – don't let his family suffer the same premature fate. Make your $27 contribution today. 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 orcas Cappuccino, Marina, and now young Ripple -- are dead, and many in their families are languishing, starving, and growing weaker every day. With only 73 of these orcas left in the wild, their starvation -- caused by a decrease in salmon as a result of increased ship and oil tanker traffic -- is decimating their chances of survival -- and one oil spill could drive them to extinction. [Don’t let the last of these orcas be wiped out by corporate greed: Donate $27 or more to Friends of the Earth Action to protect these orcas, other endangered species, and our planet, and help us reach our $25,000 World Environmental Education Day goal before midnight tonight!]( Ripple was the youngest whale in his pod for a decade, before a new family member was born last year. He had not been seen with his family in months. And late last year, a young orca’s emaciated body was found entangled in a net off the Oregon coast, tragically presumed to be Ripple. The loss of these orcas is devastating not only to the species, but to their families as well. You see, orcas have tight-knit family groups that depend on each other to survive. They mourn every loss to their pod -- and with every loss, their chances of survival decrease. Help protect the last remaining Southern Resident Killer Whales and our planet. Make your $27 donation to Friends of the Earth Action today. 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 are the only endangered species of killer whales in the United States -- with only 73 left in the remaining pods. Once thriving in the waters of Washington and British Columbia, this precious species has been on the decline for years. And yet, massive corporations are looking to build the Roberts Bank T2 container shipping terminal and expand the Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline which would be direct threats to the pods’ survival. 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. Scientists agree that Roberts Bank will disrupt the migration patterns of Chinook salmon, the main food source for the endangered orcas. 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 orcas that remain, including vulnerable new calves. The Trans Mountain Pipeline would do more of the same, pumping an additional 590,000 barrels per day of toxic tar sands oil -- the dirtiest kind -- and exponentially increasing oil tanker shipping in Southern Resident orca critical habitat from 60 to 400 tankers per year -- from one oil tanker a week to more than one per day! This would be a ticking time-bomb of toxic pollution, just waiting to spill. The increased noise from shipping traffic resulting from both these projects would also disrupt the orcas’ sonar, their primary tool for hunting. Between the chronic lack of salmon, and the disruption of their hunting methods, orcas could starve to death and be driven to extinction. Megaprojects threaten these last remaining endangered orcas. Make your gift of $27 or more to help us in the fight to protect these majestic creatures and our planet. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $5/month immediately]( The disappearance of these orcas would be a devastating loss for our planet and ecosystems as well. You see, orcas are crucial 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 while absorbing 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. But the shipping and oil industries will drive them to extinction all in the interest of their own profit, without a second thought to the consequences. Friends of the Earth Action is working with the Biden administration to increase protections for Southern Resident killer whales, but we need your help to step up our fight. Your membership donation of $27 or more will help protect these orcas from going extinct within our lifetimes, save other vulnerable species, and protect our planet. Please rush your $27 contribution today before the clock strikes midnight and we lose any more of these majestic creatures. Stand up to Big Oil and the shipping industry to protect endangered orcas and our planet. Rush your $27 donation to Friends of the Earth Action today. 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 & vessels program director, Friends of the Earth Action Contact Us: Friends of the Earth Action Washington, D.C. | Berkeley, CA 1-877-843-8687 [Contact us](foe.org/about-us/contact/) Email Preferences: [Click here to unsubscribe]( Learn more: www.foeaction.org Connect: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Flickr]( © 2017, Friends of the Earth Action. All Rights Reserved. [supporter]