One quick question: Tell us some good news about the resurgence of marine mammals in the Salish Sea?

Looking out on the water you see a small gray dorsal fin quickly breaking the surface before disappearing. Was it a whale? A dolphin? 

Chances are, it was probably a harbor porpoise, according to WWU’s Cindy Elliser, a marine mammologist and associate director of the Salish Sea Institute. At around 150 pounds and 5 to 5 ½ feet, harbor porpoises are the second-smallest cetacean (the group of whales, dolphins and porpoises) in the world, and today they are the most common cetacean in the Salish Sea. 

However, they weren’t always so plentiful. We recently asked Elliser about the harbor porpoise’s big comeback and what it means for other marine mammals. 

Elliser: In the 1950s and ’60s harbor porpoises were very common, but by the 1990s they were no longer seen in Puget Sound and all but gone in the wider Salish Sea, though there were still some sightings in the San Juan Islands area. But they have seen a massive comeback since the early 2000s, and there are now estimated to be over 11,000 harbor porpoises just in the U.S. waters of the Salish Sea. 

There has been little research on these often-elusive animals until recently, so it is unclear why the decline and recovery occurred. However, the decline is likely due to a combination of factors, including increased pollution, use of gillnets and habitat degradation. 

But then humans became more environmentally aware, and we began to clean things up and protect the waters harbor porpoises call home, allowing this species to return to its regular distribution throughout the Salish Sea. 

Harbor porpoises are chubby beacons of hope. They are a good news story, about species recovery and resilience, and what can happen when humans step up and protect the environment.

But they aren’t the only comeback story. Harbor seals were hunted for pelts and because they were seen as competition for fisheries. There was even a bounty program from the 1870s until 1960, and tens of thousands were killed. Humpback whales were decimated by whaling, removing 90% of the global population, and they were no longer seen in the Salish Sea by the early 1900s. Steller sea lions were extensively hunted for fur, oil, food and as competitors to fisheries, and then a widespread unexplained population decline occurred and they were put on the Endangered Species list in 1990 under the Endangered Species Act. 

A pivotal piece of legislation helped these species recover: the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act which federally protected all marine mammal species. This, combined with cleanup and conservation of the environment in Washington state and Endangered Species Act protection for some species and populations, provided the means for recovery. 

Today harbor seals are the most common pinniped (group of seals, sea lions and walruses) in the Salish Sea. Humpbacks, starting with the individual known as Big Mama, began returning in the early 2000s, with an exceptional increase since 2014. They are now considered regulars here, with hundreds of individuals returning each year. The eastern Pacific population of Steller sea lions, ranging from California to Southeast Alaska, were removed from the endangered species list in 2013, showing a growth rate of 4% to 5% per year.

While there are still species that are struggling, like the southern resident killer whales and gray whales, it is also important to celebrate the good news stories and positive impacts humans are making. Harbor porpoises, humpback whales, harbor seals and Steller sea lions are wonderful examples of what can happen when we work together to protect a species, and their habitat. They show us how resilient species and the Salish Sea can be, if we give them a chance.