Petition Seeks Delisting of Pacific Northwest Orcas

by Laura Petersen, E&E reporter

The population of killer whales that resides primarily in Puget Sound doesn’t deserve Endangered Species Act protection, the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation says in a delisting petition filed today with the Obama administration.The petition sent to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration argues the orcas shouldn’t have been listed in 2006 because they are not a distinct population different from other killer whales that are thriving elsewhere