Natural History Wanderings

The Revelator  reports

You may not have heard much about the long fight to remove the Nooksack Dam near Bellingham, Washington, but its detonation this week will prove ecologically and culturally important.

Proponents also hope to see indirect benefits for endangered Southern Resident killer whales. This population of orcas ranges across Pacific Northwest coastal waters and relies on dwindling numbers of Chinook as a main food source. Fewer than 80 of the whales remain, and Chinook populations have fallen so low that the orcas have started altering their traditional migration patterns as they search for fish to eat.

Read full story at : A Dam Comes Down — and Tribes, Cities, Salmon and Orcas Could All Benefit • The Revelator