Pesticides are chemicals designed to harm living organisms and it can include humans, animals, whales, salmon, and other vulnerable species. In addition to fatal results, there have been increased abnormalities found in creatures exposed to poisonous substances. Two headed-salmon, snakes, and turtles are not products of healthy ecosystems.
Runoff water carries deadly pesticides and pollution into creeks, rivers, wetlands, and ultimately the ocean.
The first major advancement in controlling pesticide runoff in the Pacific Norhwest came in 2002, when Federal Judge Coughenour, U.S. District Court in Seattle, ruled that Environmental Protection Agency was in violation of the Endangered Species Act, by not controlling the effects of pesticides on endangered salmon.
The judge stated that "EPA's own reports document the potentially significant risks posed to threatened and endangered salmonids or their habitat."
Chinook salmon are endangered and have been on a steady decline for decades. Salmon is the main food source for orca whales, another endangered species. Last summer, it was discovered that seven endangered orcas from the Puget Sound whale population disappeared, including two reproducing-aged females. The whales are feared dead and scientists believe they may have died from malnutrition, starvation, and vulnerability to other threats, like water contamination.
Read my full article with photographs and links for more information
Jean Williams AKA DelilahStarling