WRITTEN BY: Heide Brandes
What does a landlocked state and a southeastern town like Tahlequah have to do with killer whales off the coast of the Pacific Northwest?
Turns out, quite a lot. In fact, just a simple shared name has created a new push for Oklahomans to get involved in marine conservation and the fight to save the endangered Southern Resident killer whales.
In November, Oklahoma City’s Kirkpatrick Foundation announced a dollar-for-dollar match, up to $20,000, to help support SR³, a nonprofit marine wildlife rescue and research center in Des Moines, Washington, and other animal groups.
The Kirkpatrick Foundation also spurred a connection between the Oklahoma town of Tahlequah, a city where environmental and animal protection has a vibrant history, and a killer whale pod that captured the world’s attention and hearts in 2018.
The world watched with broken hearts as a Southern Resident killer whale named Tahlequah, a member of the J Pod of Southern Resident Killer Whales, mourned her lost baby. For 17 days and 1,000 miles, Tahlequah pushed her dead calf with her head, and the world grieved with her.
The Southern Resident killer whale was listed as an endangered species in 2005, and today, only 75 of these killer whales exist in the world. When Louisa McCune, executive director of the Kirkpatrick Foundation, learned that the grieving mother gave birth to a healthy male whale in September of this year, she was thrilled.
She also learned for the first time that the mother whale was named Tahlequah.
“Eight years ago, the Kirkpatrick Foundation debuted our initiative to make Oklahoma the safest and most humane place to be an animal,” said McCune. “When I learned the good news that Tahlequah had given birth again, I just became instantly obsessed with this wonderful news. I also felt like this might be an opportunity for our state to get connected to these charismatic marine mammals that are far from our landlocked state.”
In November, Oklahoma’s Kirkpatrick Foundation, Save the Illinois River, and the City of Tahlequah announced a new partnership with Washington’s SR3 (Sealife Response, Rehabilitation and Research) and the City of Des Moines, Washington, to launch the “Oklahoma Killer Whale Project.”
The project also creates a connection between Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and Tahlequah, or J35, a member of the Southern Resident killer whale community. The collaborative effort means the City of Tahlequah is now a “Sister Community” with Des Moines to support SR3’s Southern Resident health assessment research.
As part of the initiative, donations to sealifer3.org/tahlequah will not only be matched
dollar-for-dollar by the Kirkpatrick Foundation, up to $20,000, but an anonymous donor in Washington State will also match donations dollar-for-dollar, up to $40,000, in general support of the nonprofit.
The Oklahoma Killer Whale Project will also educate Oklahoma-based ocean lovers and
form a connection between Oklahoma’s landlocked marine enthusiasts and coastal conservationists in the Pacific Northwest.
“A few months ago, I never would have dreamed of reaching out to a group in Oklahoma to help protect Southern Resident killer whales,” said Casey McLean, SR3 executive director, a marine biologist, veterinary nurse and founder of the brand new marine veterinary rescue hospital in Des Moines, Washington. “As I talked more with Louisa, it really impressed upon me that it’s going to take more than just the folks who live near the Salish Sea and near those whales to ensure that they survive for generations to come. I hope we create many more (of these partnerships) throughout the country.”
Save the Illinois River, an Oklahoma nonprofit that focuses on environmental health of the Illinois River and Lake Tenkiller, is also involved in the partnership. Save the Illinois is already heavily involved in conservation but says even rivers as far away as Oklahoma have an impact on oceans and marine life.
“In Oklahoma, we recognize the connection between our own Tahlequah—a city where environmental and animal protection has a vibrant history—and the endangered Southern Resident killer whales,” said Ed Brocksmith, secretary and treasurer of Save the Illinois River.
Additional efforts and opportunities being explored across this partnership include a future Zoom Education Series, an Oklahoma Ambassadors Program making future trips to the Salish Sea, and an “Oklahoma Whale Conservation Society.” A local chapter of Drain Rangers may also be formed to allow children and youth to learn more about pollution and how runoff into drains affects the planet’s waterways.
“I think it’s a beautiful thing to reach people who may live hundreds or thousands of miles from these whales and help them understand why this is so important,” said McLean. “No matter where you live, everyone has a role to play in protecting our oceans.”
