Orca could become state’s official marine mammal

OLYMPIA – The orca would be the official marine mammal of Washington, joining the apple and steelhead trout as symbols of the Evergreen State under a bill passed by the Senate Tuesday.

The bill passed 46-1, with Sen. Brian Weinstein, D-Mercer Island, casting the only no vote. He jokingly said it was a “protest vote” for the overlooked seal and sea otter.

“They were discovered by Lewis and Clark in the Columbia River, they are part of our tradition, and they haven’t gotten their due,” he said.

Weinstein said that regardless of the slight to the smaller sea life, he’s happy to see the killer whale represent the state. “I think it’s a more impressive animal than a sea otter,” he said.

The bill passed the House last month, 90-7. It now goes to Gov. Christine Gregoire, who is expected to sign it.

The state’s resident orca community is made up of three groups, known as J, K and L pods. Between 1996 and 2001, the population dropped by 18 percent, according to the state’s status report. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife said there are currently 88 southern resident orcas in the state’s waters.

Killer whales, actually a kind of dolphin, are found in all the world’s oceans. The southern residents, and their cousins in Canada, the northern residents, spend summer and fall in inland waters, feeding on salmon.

Other orca populations, including coastal transients and offshore killer whales in the Northwest, feed mostly on other marine mammals: seals, sea lions and whales.

Last year, the commission voted to add the state’s killer whale population to the list of the state’s endangered species.

In the past, the Legislature has also designated a state grass, fruit, bird, fossil, fish, insect, song, folk song, gem, tartan, and arboretum.