Sound Water Stewards of Island County, WA
Working for a healthy, sustainable Salish Sea marine environment
Howard Garrett is the co-founder and President of Orca Network, based on Whidbey Island. With a Sociology degree from The Colorado College, he began studying orcas with the Center for Whale Research in 1981. In 1995 he founded the Tokitae Foundation to return a captive Southern Resident orca to her native waters in the Pacific Northwest. Garrett wrote about orca culture for the Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior in 2005, and Orcas In Our Midst in 2011. He co-founded Orca Network in 2001 with his wife Susan Berta to provide education about the orcas of the Salish Sea and to advocate for habitat restoration, specifically to improve runs of chinook salmon, the primary prey of Southern Resident orcas.
Orca Network projects include the Whale Sighting Network and Education Programs, the Free Lolita Campaign, The Langley Whale Center, and the Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network.
In the past year the Seaquarium was sold to a new owner after a scathing USDA inspection report about poor treatment and conditions. In March 2022 the USDA closed the whale stadium to the public. Now Tokitae and a dolphin kept with her remain in the tank. She is now being treated for a persistent infection and assessed for her possible return to the Salish Sea. The presentation will discuss the people involved and the science behind the work to bring her home.
Orca “Spy Hopping” out of the water by Jill Hein.
Monthly Member Meeting Agenda