



Above is Part 1 of our 5-part special report, "The Last Generation." Scroll down to continue watching.



SEATTLE -- The southern resident orcas are magnificent, iconic mammals in the Pacific Northwest. They've called these waters home for tens of thousands of years. And then we showed up.





A southern resident orca leaps out of the water in Puget Sound. Credit: Center for Whale Research





Humans over harvested their prey, dammed salmon runs and polluted the waters with toxins and noise. We captured their young and shipped them off to marine parks, and still the species as a whole survived.



Until now. Now, they're at a breaking point. And they probably know it. They know they're hungry, searching for food far more than they find it.



They know their babies are dying. Tahlequah certainly did. She carried her dead calf on her head for 17 days and more than 1,000 miles. She showed the world her pain.



The population has dipped to 75 whales, when it's believed historically more than 200 swam these waters.





I've spent the past year analyzing this question: Is this the last generation of southern resident orcas?



I've looked at the threats to their survival: the lack of prey; contaminants; and vessel disturbance. I've interviewed the foremost experts in this field and pressed the politicians who have the power to make a change. I've traveled across the state and even to Canada learning about solutions and meeting the people who are pushing them forward.



A year later, I've come to a conclusion, and it's one I don't make lightly. There is no question: This is the last generation. Humans -- who are responsible for putting these mammals in such a critical state -- need to act now if there's any chance at turning around the killer whales' decline.



"Nothing is impossible."



One year ago, Gov. Jay Inslee signed an executive order to form a task force to save the southern resident orcas.



"I think there is a myth that this is an impossible task," Inslee said at the first meeting.



As the population suffered through 2018, there's never been a more critical time to take bold actions.










Dams dominate discussions



Breaching four dams on the lower Snake River is the most talked-about action item during public comment at any southern resident orca task force meeting.



While there's no one solution to saving the orcas from extinction, hundreds of thousands of people signed petitions telling government where they'd like it to start.









Task force targets vessel noise



Noise is something the southern resident orcas cannot escape. In the Puget Sound, they're surrounded by container ships, oil tankers, ferries, whale watch boats, private boats and fishermen.



"If there were abundant salmon -- which we wish there were here in Washington state -- the noise might not be a big issue," said Scott Veirs of the Orca Sound Hydrophone Network. "But when salmon is scarce, particularly the chinook salmon the killer whales prefer, noise is probably quite important."



But even with measures to slow down boats and give a bigger buffer to the orcas, the noise could get worse because of expansion projects in Canada.









Poison in our waters



The fat of southern resident orcas is full of toxins, and when they're hungry, they burn their fat storage, poisoning themselves and unborn fetuses.



“Firstborn offspring get almost 100 percent of the toxicants that have been stored in the mom’s body through her entire life,” said Deborah Giles, an orca biologist at University of Washington. “So often those first babies don’t live.”



While pollution may be the hardest problem to solve, it's the one area where each individual can help orcas in their everyday life.



