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What We Do

Conservation & Management

All killer whales are protected under the MMPA and the Southern Resident population is listed as an endangered species under the ESA. We have focused our conservation efforts to help rebuild endangered and depleted populations on the West Coast and Alaska. Targeted management actions taken to secure protections for these whales and their habitat include:

Protecting killer whale habitat

Implementing coast-wide salmon recovery actions

Collaborating with partners on mitigating contaminants

Preventing oil spills and improving response preparation

Minimizing whale watching harassment and reducing vessel impacts

Learn more about our conservation efforts

Science

Our research projects have discovered new aspects of killer whale biology, behavior, and ecology and helped us better understand the threats killer whales' face. This research is especially important in rebuilding endangered and depleted populations and informing management decisions. Our work includes:

Collecting prey and fecal samples to learn about diet and health

Aerial photogrammetry to assess body condition and reproduction

Measuring the response of animals to sound using digital acoustic recording tags

Measuring pollutant transfer from mothers to offspring

Measuring energy costs to generate sounds

Learn more about our research

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Populations

Killer whales were once considered monotypic (belonging to one species), but many lines of evidence show that several distinct lineages, or even subspecies, of killer whales exist.

There are three main types of killer whales in the North Pacific: Resident, Transient, and Offshore. Each ecotype differs in appearance, diet, habitat, genetics, and behavior. While all three types share at least part of their habitats, they are not known to interbreed with each other.

Killer whales in Alaska. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Holly Fearnbach

Resident Killer Whales

Resident killer whales have rounded dorsal fins and a wide variety of saddle patch markings (the white patch behind their dorsal fins). They range from California to Russia and live in large groups. Four populations of Resident killer whales occur in the Pacific Northwest:

Southern Residents

Northern Residents

Southern Alaska Residents

Western Alaska North Pacific Residents

Resident killer whales usually eat different varieties of fish, primarily salmon. Southern Resident killer whales prefer Chinook salmon, some of which are endangered.

Transient Killer Whales

Transient killer whales have straighter dorsal fins and have primarily solid white saddle patches. They live throughout the coastal waters of the Pacific Northwest in small groups. Transient killer whales' diets are more varied and can include squid and other marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, porpoises, dolphins, and other whale species.

Offshore Killer Whales

Offshore killer whales have rounded dorsal fins, a variety of saddle patch patterns, and are generally smaller than the other types of killer whales. They are seen in large groups and have the largest range that can occur up to 9 miles offshore. Offshore killer whales eat fish, including sharks.

Other Populations

In addition to the three ecotypes, distinct populations of killer whales exist throughout the world. Populations are smaller groups within each type of killer whale. For example, there are four different populations of Resident killer whales. Each population has its own unique diet, behaviors, social structure, and habitat.

Killer Whale Social Structure and Behavior

Outside of the North Pacific, other populations of killer whales also have specialized diets. Off the coast of Norway, killer whales feed mainly on herring and other schooling fish. In waters off New Zealand, some killer whales eat stingrays and sharks. In Antarctic waters, killer whales eat minke whales, seals, or Antarctic toothfish. In contrast to killer whales in the North Pacific where specialized diets are characteristic of different ecotypes, killer whales in the Northeast Atlantic are believed to eat both herring and seals.

Killer whales are highly social and individual whales tend to stay in their original pods. Pods typically consist of two to 15 animals, but larger groups sometimes form for temporary social interaction, mating, or seasonal availability of food. Pods differ in size due to behavioral differences, the availability of food, and the number of whales living in a given area.

Pod members communicate with each other through underwater sounds such as clicks, whistles, and pulsed calls. Each pod in the Pacific Northwest possesses a unique set of sounds that are learned and culturally transmitted among individuals. These sounds help keep groups together and serve as family badges.

Pods also work together to hunt. They use a coordinated hunting strategy and work as a team to catch prey.

Maps and GIS data for black abalone, bocaccio, Chinook salmon, chum salmon, coho salmon, eulachon, green sturgeon, humpback whale, killer whale, leatherback turtle, sockeye salmon, steelhead trout, Steller sea lion, and yelloweye rockfish.

Tracks the implementation of recovery actions from Endangered Species Act (ESA) recovery plans.

Displays spatial data for marine and anadromous species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the West Coast Region. The core datasets are ESA-listed species' ranges and critical habitat.

In this study, scientists present the first assessment of killer whale predation on belugas in Cook Inlet.

Documents

The Southern Resident killer whale Distinct Population Segment was first listed as Endangered in...

The Species in the Spotlight initiative is a concerted agency-wide effort to spotlight and save...

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The killer whale is the largest member of the dolphin family. The population of Southern Resident killer whales in the Pacific Northwest is one of the most critically endangered marine mammals. Learn about our work to protect and conserve killer whales.

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Are Extreme Sports Worth the Risk?

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Killer whale shows - banned in California!

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The route to the top of the world has become too crowded.

The first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest was James Whittaker, who accomplished that towering feat in 1963. As he stood at the summit, accompanied his Sherpa guide, both men were very much alone.

Fast forward to 2013, when a team from National Geographic Magazine trekked up the mountain to mark the anniversary of Whittaker's quest; they found that in 2013, the challenge isn't nearly as....challenging.

A crowd of climbers slog up the Lhotse Face, heading toward Camp IV, last stop before the summit. Loose regulations and a boom in commercial guiding over the past two decades have made Everest far more accessible to experts and novices alike.

According to an article in the current National Geographic Magazine, about nine out of ten who reach the summit now are guided "clients," people who pay up to $120,000 for this "tour." Not that climbing Everest is easy, even under those conditions: Ten deaths were reported in 2012, including three Sherpa guides. But today-as if the altitude, the winds, the lack of oxygen wasn't enough to deter them-climbers walk up trails that are polluted, with garbage leaking out of the glaciers and pyramids of human excrement befouling the high camps.

In more than a few places, climbers face a more gruesome encounter: corpses of the dead who didn't make it to the top.

The cover of the June 2013 issue of National Geographic magazine.

"When I arrived at the apex ..., it was so crowded I couldn't find a place to stand," writes author Mark Jenkins in the June issue of the National Geographic. "Meanwhile, down below at the Hillary Step the lines were so long that some people going up waited more than two hours, shivering, growing weak-this even though the weather was excellent. If these throngs of climbers had been caught in a storm, as others were in 1996, the death toll could have been staggering.

"Clearly the world's highest peak is broke," he writes. "But if you talk to the people who know it best, they'll tell you it's not beyond repair."

Headlamps trace a path to the summit a few hours before dawn. Says one guide, "The most dangerous thing about Everest is everyone else who's trying to climb it."

There are about 35,000 visitors to the Everest region annually, and the money they spend for guides and permits is crucial to Nepal's economy, where the average national wage is less than $900. It has become, in the words of one climber, "a commercial mountain."

The crowding has led to altercations, and worse, on the mount. In 1996, eight climbers were killed and several others stranded in a sudden blizzard near the summit. The tragedy was documented by Jon Krakauer, a journalist and climber on that expedition, in his 1997 best-selling book, "Into Thin Air."

Crowded, yes, but still risky: Team member Hilaree O'Neill steps across a bridge of aluminum ladders lashed together above a crevasse in the Khumbu Icefall, considered one of the most unpredictable hazards on Everest.

There are still memorable moments at Everest. Earlier this month, Arunima Sinha, 26, a trainee police officer from India, became the first female amputee to reach the top. Just two days later, an 80-year-old Japanese mountaineer became the oldest man to scale Everest; while in 2010, Jordan Romero, a 13-year-old American boy, was became the youngest to trek to the top.

As the Everest climb becomes more of an "extreme sport" and less of a unique, life-changing event, the crowds and queues are likely to increase. In his piece, Jenkins lays out some way to improve the climbing environment, including issuing fewer permits to climbers, restricting the size of the climber teams to lessen congestion, and to require all climbers to remove all their waste and garbage from the mountain.

One crucial element is to ensure that climbers have the experience necessary; without the training, some just don't recognize that at some point, it might be time to turn around and go back.

"Only half the people here have the experience to climb this mountain," a Sherpa told the magazine. "The half without experience are the most likely to die."

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Has the summit of Mount Everest become an overcrowded tourist trap?

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The route to the top of the world has become too crowded. The first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest was James Whittaker, who accomplished that towering feat in 1963. As he stood at the summit, accompanied his Sherpa guide, both men were ver

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Is your kid obsessed with becoming the next X Games star, Olympic medalist, or YouTube stuntman? Young kids often have no fear when it comes to taking risks, but are extreme sports like dirt bike riding and bungee jumping dangerous for kids?
Related: Sports Safety Tips for Your Child
Though traditional sports like football, basketball, and hockey aren't exactly going out of style, the world of extreme sports is growing in popularity. Kids and adults alike are participating in increasing numbers in these risky-if not sometimes downright dangerous-sports. But why?

From skateboarding and snowboarding to BMX biking and rock climbing, pop culture and social media have collided to amp up physical activity and make super-sized stunts seem like the norm. Long gone are the days when peer pressure from classmates, neighbors or older sibs drove younger children to drop into a half-pipe or launch their bike off a crazy incline.

Today's kiddos are also influenced by...well, influencers. YouTube stars, TikTok creators, and even Olympic athletes have turned extreme sports from something that only the wildest child would attempt to everyday activities.

If your littles are begging to do extreme sports and you're totally new to these types of activities, read on for more info on the risks, benefits, times to encourage your kiddo, and when to flat out say a big 'ol, " NO."

Extreme Sports Growing More Popular with Kids

Some kids are happier riding their skateboards than dealing with the structure of soccer practice. Others like cruising around on their BMX bikes until their legs just quit, surfing themselves silly, or spending the entire weekend learning new tricks on their inline skates.

Of course, young kids are also attracted to extreme sports because they're cool. And who doesn't like being on the cutting edge? Snowboarding, the bad-boy little brother of skiing, was legitimized by sports traditionalists when it became an official Olympic event at the 1998 Nagano Games.

Fast-forward to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (which were actually held in 2021 thanks to the pandemic) and skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing became legit gold, silver, and bronze events!

Studies Show Fewer Kids Are Joining School Sports Teams

Have the days of dribbling a ball down a court or passing a puck gone the way of the dinosaurs? According to stats from Project Play, in 2021 the most popular youth sports for children ages six through 12 were bicycling, basketball, and baseball. Even though more than 5.2 million children biked in 2021, this was a significant change from way back in 2008.

The Project Play statistics show that only 18 percent of children reported bicycling in 2021, while a whopping 27.7 percent got active on two wheels in 2008.

Basketball team play dropped from 16.6 percent to 14.5 percent participation and baseball from 16.5 percent to 12.6 percent between 2008 and 2021. The number of children playing other popular team sports, such as soccer, tackle football, and flag football, also dropped during the same time frame.

Basketball is Less Popular But Bicycling is Big with Teens

The same downward trends didn't happen for teen participation in all traditional sports. Bicycling participation grew from 16.8 percent to 21 percent between 2008 and 2021 and baseball play rose from 8.2 percent to 9.5 percent.

What could account for the overall downward trend in team and individual youth sports play? There isn't one reason. But some of the possible explanations include an increasingly competitive climate, the high cost of intensive travel sports (such as hockey), or interest in other activities -such as extreme sports.

Dangerous Sports: Kids in BMX, Climbing, and Bungee Jumping?!

We spoke to Paul Vail, 29, a BMX freestyle bike rider for more than 14 years to learn more about the kinds of extreme sports kids are trying.

Vail says that when it comes to extreme sports, "Today's kids who've been riding skateboards or BMX bikes since they were 12-year-olds will become the parents who say, 'Yes, skateboarding, bike riding -- perfectly acceptable sports for my kid to do. And don't tell me they have to play football or be on the basketball team to be accepted, because that's no longer true.'"

Vail balks at the term "extreme sports." "People have been skydiving, skiing, riding bikes, doing tricks, and taking jumps forever. I think the extreme sports label is a gimmick. I like the term 'alternative sports'."

Extreme or not, it's important to encourage kids to express themselves physically, whether their athletic tastes are trendy or traditional. Both solo and team-oriented sports can build self-confidence, relieve stress, and promote physical fitness -- all of which are vital to growing kids and adults alike.

Kids in "alternative" sports are expressive, highly skilled athletes. And sports like rock climbing, snowboarding, inline skating, surfing, skateboarding, extreme skiing, and mountain biking (to name just a few), require significant technical ability as well as strength and endurance. Plus, alternative sports can help your kids develop positive qualities like discipline, persistence, and determination.

Kids in Ski Jumping or Snowboarding

BMX, skateboarding, and bungee jumping aren't the only extreme sports kids flock to. Even though ski jumping might seem like a new adventurous activity, it made its Olympic debut way back in 1924.

Of course, this doesn't mean kiddos were climbing up mountains, whooshing down slopes, and flying into the air on two skis a century ago. While this soaring sport isn't exactly new, its youth appeal has spiked in recent years. According to Women's Ski Jumping USA, five to eight years old is the age average for ski jumpers to start the sport!

Like ski jumping, snowboarding is a winter-time extreme sport that has skyrocketed in popularity. Again, snowboarding became Olympic-official in 1998. Almost a decade later, in 2006, then-19-year-old Shaun White made his first bid for the gold. But White certainly wasn't the last teen to take this extreme sport up a level and put it center stage.

Seventeen-year-old Chloe Kim became the youngest women's Olympic halfpipe competitor to nab the gold in 2018 at the PyeongChang games. With role models like White and Kim to follow, a whole new generation is getting into the halfpipe!

Not only do today's kiddos follow these, and other top athletes, but during the Olympics, they can watch the extreme antics of snowboarders on YouTube, TikTok, and just about every other social media site.

Kids and Sport Injuries

How dangerous are extreme sports? As a parent, your child's safety is priority number one. And that's why you're not so sure about your kiddo's extreme activities. Even though extreme sports do often come with, as the name implies, extreme risks, these aren't the only athletics that can result in serious injuries.

According to Stanford Medicine Children's Health, each year over 3.5 million children (14 and under) are injured during sports play. This includes more than 775,000 kiddos who require ER treatment. The majority of the injuries requiring hospital-level care are the result of collisions, falls, overexertion (during informal recreational activities) or object-related impacts.

When it comes to the most injuries per sport, football takes the top spot-with nearly 215,000 five- to 14-year-olds treated in hospitals in one year. This number is higher than what you find with some extreme sports. But in general, more children play this type of traditional team sport than engage in extreme activity.

A 2015 study published in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine looked at the prevalence of head and neck injuries in extreme sports. The researchers found that between 2000 and 2011 there were more than four million total injuries from these types of activities (this includes adult injuries).

Over 11 percent of these were head and neck injuries. Of these head and neck injuries, the extreme sports with the highest number of incidents included skateboarding, snowboarding, skiing, and motocross.

Fear is probably the number-one reason many of us avoid taking risks. For athletes in extreme sports, conquering fear is part of the adventure of sport. When a skateboarder is practicing tricks on a 15-foot ramp (commonly called a half-pipe), or a mountain biker is flying down a rock-strewn single-track trail, and he makes a mistake and falls -- well, it's going to hurt a little. Okay, maybe a lot.

But the athletes we spoke to didn't complain about injuries. In fact, most have enjoyed relatively injury-free experiences in their sports. Brian Krause, a competitive skydiver for the U.S. Army's Golden Knights, has taken thousands of jumps out of airplanes without so much as a sprained ankle.

But Matt Donovan, a pro downhill mountain bike racer from Massachusetts, said that when he first got serious about racing, his season was "very injury-laden. I had two concussions, a separated shoulder, a broken hand, multiple cuts, and lacerations. And I cracked a rib."

There are two kinds of sports injuries:

1. Chronic Repetitive or Overuse Injuries

Overuse injuries can cause stress fractures, muscle tears, or progressive bone deformities.

2. Acute Injuries

Acute sports injuries occur as a result of trauma from contact with a major force. Acute sports injuries include fractures, broken bones, dislocations, and more serious spinal and brain injuries.

Is It Wrong to Let Children Do Extreme Sports?

Should safety concerns stop your child from trying an extreme sport? There's no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. If your adventure-loving kiddo is all about skateboarding, snowboarding, parkour, BMX biking, or any other high-octane activity, you will need to think about:

Your Child's Age and Developmental Level

Is your child developmentally ready to handle the challenge? What is their skill level when it comes to basic coordination and athletic tasks like running, jumping, and balancing? Can you trust them to act responsibly, follow an instructor's directions, and wear safety equipment correctly?

Your Child's Motivation

Does your child want to become the next Tik Tok star? If your tween has dreams of easily twisting a BMX bike around in mid-air like their fave influencer or thinks videos of teens crashing their skateboards into just about anything and everything is hilarious, they may struggle to stay safe while engaging in an extreme sport.

The Instructor or Coach

Who will teach your child about the sport? A YouTube video or IG video are not a substitute for the real deal. Only a qualified instructor or professional should instruct your child.

The Safety Equipment

Do you know what safety equipment your child will need? Will they wear it? You may need to learn more about the equipment standards before you allow your child to participate in extreme activities.

What types of equipment do children need? The specific items depend on the sport. These could include a helmet, shoulder pads, shin pads, elbow pads, or wrist guards.

According to Seattle Children's Hospital, skiers and snowboarders should wear a helmet that meets ASTM, CEN, or Snell standards. Skateboarders should wear one that conforms to the ASTM F1492 standard. Children who ride bikes or scooters should wear a helmet that meets CPSC or Snell standards, knee pads, and elbow pads.

When is an extreme sport too extreme? If you don't feel comfortable with your child engaging in the activity or don't feel that they can follow safety directions, it's okay to just say no. Some sports are not age-appropriate for younger kids, and you should wait until they're a bit older to try them out.

It's also okay to talk to ask questions, talk to a pro, or take your time gathering facts, stats, and any other info about the adventurous activity! Learn more about extreme sports by taking our quiz here.

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Kids and Extreme Sports: Should They Be Allowed?

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Should kids do extreme sports? BMX riders, snowboarders and X Game stars weigh in on the benefits and risks of kids doing extreme sports.

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Jan. 19, 2011&#151; -- Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke died today, nine days after sustaining injuries in an accident on a half-pipe course in Utah.

The 29-year-old Winter X Games champion and 2005 half-pipe world gold medalist suffered " severe irreversible damage to her brain due to lack of oxygen and blood after cardiac arrest," according to a statement from Burke's publicist.

"As the result of Sarah's fall, she suffered a ruptured vertebral artery, one of the four major arteries supplying blood to the brain. The rupture of this artery led to a severe intracranial hemorrhage, which caused Sarah to go into cardiac arrest on the scene," according to the statement. "While early reports in the media stated that Sarah's injury was a traumatic brain injury, it is important to note that Sarah's condition was the result of a lack of oxygen to the brain during cardiac arrest."

Although she underwent a successful operation to repair the torn artery, tests showed she suffered irreversible brain damage.

Burke's organs and tissues were donated in accordance with her wishes. She died surrounded by family and loved ones at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City at about 9:22 a.m., according to her publicist's statement.

"The family expresses their heartfelt gratitude for the international outpouring of support they have received from all the people Sarah touched," the statement said.

Burke, who was not only one of the best female skiers in the world but a red carpet regular and fashion plate who was once named one of FHM's 100 sexiest women alive, crashed after a faulty landing while on a private training run in the Eagle Superpipe at Park City Mountain Resort Jan. 10.

Burke's accident occurred on the same course where snowboarder and Olympic medalist Kevin Pearce suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2009.

Freestyle skiing is something of a daredevil sport, a sort of trick skiing that uses the half-pipe, which is normally used by snowboarders. Burke was training for the upcoming X Games in Aspen, Colo., where she was the defending champion and expected to win again.

Described as a pioneer in the sport, Burke was the first woman to land a 1080 (three full-body rotations) in competition, according to the Associated Press. She was performing a trick called a "flat spin 540" when she was injured.

She was also a favorite heading into the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, having lobbied to have women's skiing superpipe added to the lineup.

Burke, from Whistler, British Columbia, married fellow freestyle-skier Rory Bushfield in 2010.

While Bushfield and Burke's families have asked for privacy, a public celebration of the ski champ's life will be held in the coming weeks.
ABC News' Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed reporting.

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Sarah Burke Dead at 29 After Half-Pipe Skiing Accident

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Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke died today, nine days after sustaining serious injuries in an accident on the half-pipe course in Utah. The 29-year-old Winter X Games champion and 2005 half-pipe world gold medalist suffered severe irreversible damage to her brain because of lack of oxygen and blood after cardiac arrest.

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They do it because they have to. They need the feeling of exertion, that head rush of air and attitude. They want what Warren Shouldice knows is hard to explain unless you flip head over skis, knees over board, and kick snow in the face of danger.

That's what drew Shouldice to freestyle aerials and helped him become a world champion after he had broken his neck and compressed his back. It's what powered the late Sarah Burke to four Winter X Games championships and made her a success in the superpipe, skiing's answer to snowboarding's half-pipe.

"It's almost no fun doing it if there's no risk involved," said Shouldice, a 12-time World Cup medalist in a daredevil game. "The trick is making it a manageable risk."

When Burke died Thursday, nine days after falling during a training run in Park City, Utah, it saddened a nation and a sporting community world-wide. Burke was 29 and happily prepping for her sport's inclusion in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. She had been injured many times before - a broken back, a torn shoulder - but nothing could dampen her love of skiing and the need to push herself to the brink of manageable risk and beyond.

Such is the appeal of many established and extreme sports, both for participants and spectators. The risks and rewards provide the thrills. Alpine skiing, particularly the ultra-fast downhill, has been a major attraction for decades. But the advent of the X Games upped the adrenalin quotient considerably.

The Games were the brainchild of ESPN producer Ron Semiao. In 1993, Semiao was looking for programming to fill the cable channel's fledgling ESPN2. He spotted a series of oddball sports that seemed to have a culture all their own and suggested to his bosses that ESPN create a made-for-TV sporting event. Two years later ESPN launched the first Extreme Games, a week-long competition that featured bungee jumping, mountain biking, skateboarding and street luge. Ratings weren't great and some critics panned the spectacle as "moronic." But ESPN stuck with it and made the games an annual event, later adding a second winter sports program. It also changed the name to X Games.

The popularity of the X Games took off and today they rival the Olympics in some respects. The X Games pull in more than 100,000 spectators and draw a television audience of around 44 million. They have also attracted major sponsors such as Ford, BF Goodrich, Sony and athletes such as Shaun White make up to $8-million annually in sponsorship deals.

The X Games are so popular, ESPN has announced plans to expand from two annual events to six, three summer and three winter. Bids from potential host cities have been flooding in, including one from Whistler B.C., which sees the X Games as a complement to the 2010 Olympics. Meanwhile rival network NBC has started a competing series called Dew Tour with PepsiCo and the Olympics have taken up some X Games sports, including Burke's specialty halfpipe skiing, which will be in the 2014 Games in Sochi.

The X Games "have gone viral," says Lee Berke, who runs consulting firm LHB Sports, Entertainment & Media Inc. in New York. "It's very grassroots in its appeal." Berke added that the X Games have won over major sponsors because the viewing audience is so young, largely 18-34, which means many have yet to form brand loyalties.

But at the root of it all is the question: why? Why do athletes gamble with their lives by doing something so inherently dangerous? Like flying upside down off a 22-foot snow wall or skiing from ridiculous heights?

Asit Rathod has a wonderful life. He's single, active, works at a sales job in Portland, Ore. But as often as he can, he climbs to the top of Mt. Hood and skis off a cliff with a parachute on his back. He's done it many times and is now eyeing bigger verticals - Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Everest.

Ask him why he does it and Rathod's passion runs wild.

"People always say, 'Why do you feel the need to risk your life?' It's about the power of adventure. In day-to-day life, adventure has been ripped from us in the way we drive, the way we eat. You get to that place where you have to have that adventure," he said. "The risk is always the excitement."

Rathod was a good friend of Shane McConkey, who died in 2009 when he skied off a cliff in Italy and his chute failed to open. Over the past four years, Rathod has lost "six, seven good friends" to extreme-sport accidents yet he has no plans to take up something with a safer track record.

"You remember their spirit. You remember their smile," he said of his fallen comrades. "If anything, it gives you more inspiration to do what you're doing. It's like Nietzsche said, 'The secret to reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously.'"

Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, was saddened by the news of Burke's death but insisted freestyle skiing is no more dangerous than any other winter sport. "There are always risks attached to sport," he stated.

Mitigating those risks is the relentless challenge. The International Ski Federation is presently examining how to equip downhill skiers with air bags to protect them during high-speed spills. FIS has been working with Dainese, the Italian company that makes protection for mountain bikers and motorcyclists. Canadian downhillers Erik Guay and Jan Hudec have been involved in the testing. Three years into the project, FIS is hoping to have a race suit fully ready for the end of this year.

Not so high tech, yet just as important, is the way young athletes are trained for their sport. Alpine Canada is holding a series of speed skills camps to instruct young racers on how to ski safely. At Calgary's Canada Olympic Park, there are plans to expand on an acrobatics room with trampolines and foam pits for budding freestylers. The kids, ages 9 to 14, practise there first before graduating to jumping off a ramp and landing in an air bad. Eventually, after hundreds of practice jumps, they move to the snow and begin in moderation.

"What we're doing is hiring top coaches to train top athletes," said Daniel Lefebvre, COP's director of education/sport development. "You have to build their confidence."

Shouldice, who recovered from both of his bad crashes but is currently sidelined with a concussion, endorses all of that - solid training and coaching. He also believes Burke's death, whole tragic, will not adversely affect freestyle skiing.

"I don't think this is going to change anyone's opinion of freestyle," he said. "Yes, there are risks. There are risks driving to work every day, Look at the number of people in freestyle and this is our first death. A lot of sports can't say that."

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Given the risks involved, where's the appeal in extreme sports?

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It is part adrenalin rush and part risk/reward that drive people to take part in established and extreme sports

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SeaWorld Killer Whale Trainer Responds to "Blackfish"

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A man's quest to stop the decline of orcas

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SeaWorld Says: No to Show, Yes to Captivity | Dolphin Project

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SeaWorld Entertainment, in an announcement on their website, has listed January 8, 2017 as the last date of their “One Ocean Shamu Show” in San Diego, California. After years of public backlash…

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In January, one of the world’s major automakers, General Motors (GM), announced that it would stop selling gas-powered cars by 2035. The company says it will make more battery-powered vehicles. In March, Swedish automaker Volvo stepped up the timeline. It…

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The race is on to get more electric cars on the road. President Joe Biden has made electric vehicles (EVs) a priority. By 2030, he'd like half of all new vehicles sold to be zero-emission. It's a response to the climate crisis. Currently, the United States is one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. And more than a quarter of the country's emissions come from gasoline-burning vehicles.

But according to a 2021 survey by Pew Research Center, more than half of U.S. adults don't want gasoline cars to be phased out. They say EVs are expensive and charging them is a hassle. For now, most people plan to stick with gas-powered vehicles. We asked TFK readers what they think about EVs.

COURTESY VIVIAN CHANG
Princia Zhou, 9 Chino Hills, California
In my opinion, we should all have electric cars. Our gas cars burn fossil fuels, which are limited resources. These fuels cannot be regenerated. Using them is unsustainable.

But the electricity powering EVs can be generated from renewable energy sources. These include solar and wind power. Think about it: Transportation causes 21% of global carbon-dioxide emissions. That's a huge factor in climate change. Driving EVs could eliminate that. The switch needs to happen soon. Not only to protect the environment, but so we kids can have a brighter and cleaner future.

COURTESY SARA SILLER
Kieran Siller, 10 New York, New York
Electric vehicles pollute the planet just as much as, if not more than, gas cars. Think of when you're charging an EV. That power is coming from a power plant, which burns fossil fuels and pollutes the planet. More electric cars just means more charging. We'd need to build more power plants.

And mining for the elements needed to build EV batteries creates a ton of pollution. If automakers produce all-electric cars, they'll mine for the elements more often. The switch to EVs could destroy the planet. A lot of things are like this. It's not always black-and-white. Both electric and gasoline cars hurt the planet.

COURTESY AMANDA TIGHE
Henry Hut-Davis, 10 Greenwich, Connecticut
Electric cars are better for the environment. They don't burn fossil fuels and release toxic fumes into the air. Some people think electric cars are pricey. But their prices are coming down. Some cost around $30,000. That's cheaper than many gas-powered cars. Plus, the cost of gas can add a lot to the price of a regular car, and once you use the gas, it's gone. You can't recycle it the way you can a battery.

Anyway, I think we're going to run out of gas at some point. This will make EVs a necessity. Finally, many EVs are smaller and easier to park. That's why I think all cars of the future should be electric.

COURTESY KATHRYN BRUCATO
Sydney Geiger, 11 Morris Plains, New Jersey
I don't think all cars should be electric. First of all, charging stations are less common than gas stations. This makes electric cars a lot less convenient for long trips. And cold weather slows the chemical reactions that make the batteries work.

Electric cars are also more expensive than regular cars. On average, a new EV costs around $11,000 more than a new gas car. And while they have no tailpipe emissions, electric cars do have an environmental cost. Their batteries are made with rare metals found at the bottom of the sea. Mining these metals is harmful to marine life.

COURTESY WINDSOR CHARTER ACADEMY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Callaway Kershaw, 11 Windsor, Colorado
I think we should all have electric cars. This would decrease air pollution and allow us to breathe better. Cleaner air also means there will be fewer animals dying. Think of all the species we have lost by destroying our environment.

If the world could be a better, cleaner place, it would be worth the expense of electric cars. Some electric cars are more expensive. But they need less maintenance than gas-powered cars. So the costs start to even out. Also, did you know that electric cars can travel 33 miles for about a dollar? You can't say that for gas. All cars should be electric!

COURTESY TOM LEE
Alison Lee, 9 Los Angeles, California
It's way too early to go all-electric. True, electric cars help slow climate change. But batteries also affect the environment. Throwing them away can damage an ecosystem. And the materials needed to make batteries are scarce.

The lack of charging stations is an obstacle too. There aren't enough of them. On a long-distance trip last year, my family's gas-powered car got us to our destination in eight hours. It took another family longer, because they had to stop to charge their electric car. I'm not saying we should never go electric, just that now is not the time.
*Submissions have been edited only for length and clarity. They are not intended to reflect the views of TIME for Kids. Ages are accurate as of the time of submission. This is our last debate of the school year. Are there questions you'd like to debate in the fall? Email suggestions to tfkeditors@time.com.

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By Charlie Moss and the K2Awards Staff One of the most hotly debated subjects in the world of youth sports is participation trophies and their effect on children’s development. There’s plenty of anecdotes floating around from celebrities and professional athletes, but can those opinions really be called evidence? In li

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The CEO of Toyota was skewered recently when he expressed serious criticism about the auto industry's headlong rush into electric vehicles (EVs) by saying, "We shouldn't limit ourselves to just one option." This segment of What's Ahead explains why he's right.

Contrary to vociferous assertions, EVs are no friends of the environment. A typical 1,000-pound EV battery, for instance, entails the mining and processing of 500,000 pounds of earth. Renewables require monstrous amounts of new mining.

Cold weather severely curtails or even eliminates EV battery performance. The increased electricity to charge all these vehicles will seriously stress an already shaky electrical grid. Moreover, an inconvenient truth is that most people don't want EVs.

Electric vehicles are part of the future, but they are manifestly not the future.

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Ever since I was 6 years old, I dreamed of working with killer whales. I always loved animals, but I fell for whales in particular during a childhood trip to SeaWorld. They are magnificent, intelligent, sentient beings.

In 1993, when I was 20, my dream came true: I was hired by SeaWorld. I rose through the ranks and eventually became a senior trainer, working at both SeaWorld of California and SeaWorld of Texas. I also supervised killer whale training at a marine park on the French Riviera.

I worked with 20 different orcas and performed in the water with 17 of them - including the corporation's riskiest and most dangerous killer whales. I formed truly reciprocal relationships with the animals. I loved each of them as deeply as possible and have memories I will cherish for the rest of my life. But unfortunately, not everything is the way it seems. On August 17, 2012, after several years of growing uneasiness about SeaWorld's killer whale program, I quit.

SeaWorld just announced that the company will end its breeding program and that this will be the last generation of orcas in captivity. Am I elated? Yes. Do I still have questions? Sure.

What it was like to work at SeaWorld

At first, and for many years, I was happy working at SeaWorld. I didn't understand what was healthy or unhealthy, normal or abnormal. I was just thrilled to have accomplished my dream, my passion.

But the more I learned and the further I moved up the ranks, I saw and did things that haunt me to this day. I realized that we were exploiting these whales for enormous profit and disguising it as education and conservation. The reality was that I was being exploited too, but it would take years and the deaths of two colleagues for me to truly understand that.

I was part of the first artificial insemination on an orca, in the year 2000; it was on a wild-caught Icelandic orca named Kasatka, and the program grew from there. I remember my supervisors telling me we had a moral responsibility to diversify the orca gene pool, and that we were actually caring for the whales by experimenting with artificial insemination. At first I believed what we were being told - that it was a good thing and we were pioneers, the first in the world to achieve something groundbreaking. Then it became clear to me what the procedure was really for: Whales were becoming baby machines for profit.

SeaWorld crossbred whales through forced confinement together or through artificial insemination, creating hybrid whales that don't even exist in the natural world. Inbreeding, which also doesn't happen with orcas in nature, started becoming common: SeaWorld had a male, Taku, who bred with his own mother, Katina, resulting in the birth of a calf named Nalani.

To make matters worse, SeaWorld also separated mothers from their calves. Separation doesn't happen in the wild. Family units stay together for life. When I was at SeaWorld, calves were typically taken away from their mothers around age 3 or 4, but I witnessed it as early as 20 months of age. Keet was still nursing from his mother, Kalina, when she was taken from him and sent to another park. To my knowledge, they were never reunited.

I witnessed the physical and emotional ravages of captivity. The whales would bite the steel gates, causing their teeth to fracture and completely break off. The whales would excessively bite on the corners of the concrete tanks and peel off the blue paint, causing their teeth to wear down to the point where we, the trainers, had to manually drill a hole in the tooth and then invasively irrigate this hole with a hydrogen peroxide solution, using a metal catheter.

Another symptom of boredom: I saw the whales float motionless for hours upon hours every day, leading, among other things, to complete dorsal fin collapse on 100 percent of all captive adult males and even some females. This happens in fewer than 1 percent of wild adult males. In the wild, it's believed to be caused by traumatic injury such as being struck by a vessel - in captivity, it is the unnatural amount of time spent at the surface and the inevitable pull of gravity.

I witnessed and distributed the enormous amount of drugs the whales were doped up on: antibiotics to treat chronic infections, medication to treat ulcers and fungal infections, drugs to treat epilepsy. I even gave whales Valium when we would do an invasive procedure, take a calf away from its mother, or move whales from one park to another.

Though SeaWorld claims to offer its whales world-class care, some of the whales were dying in their teens or younger. (National Geographic lists average life spans in the wild to be between 50 and 80 years.) Unna died at the age of only 18 this past December from a rare fungal infection resistant to treatment, and now SeaWorld has announced that Tilikum is dying from an as-yet-unnamed bacterial strain.

The last three or four years of my career, I fought constantly with management regarding separating mothers from their calves and the intensified artificial insemination program, but nothing I did changed anything. Despite being one of the most experienced killer whale trainers in the corporation, I was powerless.

What finally made me decide to leave

A huge turning point for me came when two of my colleagues were killed. Alexis Martinez was killed Christmas Eve in 2009 at a marine park in Spain by an orca that was born and trained at SeaWorld. Then Dawn Brancheau, who I had known personally for nine years, was killed just two months later at SeaWorld Orlando. I could comprehend and accept their deaths: every experienced trainer knows what killer whales are capable of. I myself have been a victim of at least 10 major aggressions in the water with orcas where I was fortunately able to redirect the whale and safely escape. Unfortunately Martinez and Brancheau were not as lucky.

As I remember it, SeaWorld blamed both the trainers for their own deaths, at least within the company. It was said of Martinez that he was relatively inexperienced and most likely panicked and drowned when Keto pulled him under. The autopsy report and trainers who were there tell a very different story: He had been crushed, and his chest exploded with massive internal injuries. He died a violent death; when he was pulled from the pool, it appeared he had blood coming from his nose, ears, and mouth, indicative of the scope of his injuries.

For Brancheau, the explanation from senior management was that she was too complacent and put herself in too vulnerable of a position. SeaWorld's expert witness, Jeffrey Andrews, testified in the 2011 federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration hearings regarding Brancheau's death that the only thing that led to this fatality was a mistake by Brancheau.

The truth is more complicated: We will never know why Tilikum made the decision to grab Dawn, pull her in, and dismember her, but what we do know is that it was an aggressive attack. These are wild apex predators.

SeaWorld officials claimed they had no knowledge that it was unsafe for trainers to work in close proximity to killer whales or with them in the water - which is ridiculous. The signatures of these same SeaWorld managers were all over internal documents describing how dangerous the whales were and the need to have only the most experienced trainers work with certain whales.

Federal Judge Ken Welsch wrote, "No reasonable person ... would conclude that SeaWorld was unaware that working in close contact with killer whales during performances creates a hazard for its trainers." SeaWorld lost the case and its appeal.

Why I'm cautiously optimistic about the future

I chose to speak out for the first time when I was interviewed for the documentary Blackfish, only seven days after I resigned. Since then, I have been fighting to achieve what SeaWorld has just announced: the end of captive breeding and the orca captivity program. This is terrific news that I greet with cautious optimism.

One reason to be concerned is that a SeaWorld whale is pregnant right now. I'm assuming she was impregnated well before SeaWorld chose this historic new direction. But it does unfortunately mean one more whale will be born in captivity.

Another reason is this: Talk can be cheap, and SeaWorld has made announcements similar to this in the past. Those have amounted to nothing more than PR moves. Now I would like to see SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby, who took on the job about year ago, back up those words with actions. For a new leader to make a change, he needs a team that will help him with his new vision for the future, which means firing the old guard and hiring the new. With an executive level shake-up in February, this process has started.

Next, we need to see exactly what his plan of action is. Yes, we need to be sure the protocols won't allow an accidental pregnancy in the future. And what, if any, side deals have been made to make this happen? How will this affect not only the orcas but other animals in captivity at SeaWorld? Answers to these questions won't come overnight, but I hope they come soon.

Despite my concerns, I say bravo to Joel Manby for seeing the writing on the wall and making decisions that could save the company, decisions no one before him was willing to make. I choose to support Manby and give him a genuine chance to do the right thing. If he backs up his words with actions, which I believe he has already begun doing, then this is a historic change and a win for the whales that so desperately deserve it.

John Hargrove is a former senior killer whale trainer at SeaWorld. After resigning from SeaWorld, he was featured in the Sundance-selected documentary Blackfish. He is the author of Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish.

First Person is Vox's home for compelling, provocative narrative essays. Do you have a story to share? Read our submission guidelines, and pitch us at firstperson@vox.com.

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I trained killer whales at SeaWorld for 12 years. Here's why I quit.

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What I saw during my time there still haunts me.

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End captivity - Whale & Dolphin Conservation USA

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Dolphins and Whales In Captivity: The Dark Truth

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A killer whale’s dorsal fin can grow several feet long, with an adult male’s fin growing up to six feet – the tallest dorsal fin of all cetaceans. Despite its size, the dorsal fin is not supported by bone but consists of a fibrous connective tissue made of collagen, a structural protein. Swimming at speed, in straight lines, and in deep water provides pressure to the fin, encouraging the fin to remain healthy and straight. In wild orcas, multiple factors such as emaciation, stress, old age, dehydration, exposure to oil spills, and injury caused by altercations with conspecifics or entanglement can lead to a loss of structural integrity in the fin, which can cause it to partially or completely collapse.