10th LD, Senate: St. Clair will protect state’s orcas

Published 1:30 am Thursday, October 24, 2024

10th LD, Senate

St. Clair will protect state’s orcas

Southern Resident orcas are intelligent, social, biologically important as apex predators; and critically endangered. Only some 73 remain and recent research published in the journal Nature highlighted that human-produced noise interferes with their ability to hunt, reproduce and survive. The same research foresees extinction for the Southern Resident orcas.

Janet St. Clair, running to be our 10th Legislative District state senator, says “I’m a fierce protector of salmon and our iconic orca population.” The Southern Resident Orcas primarily eat salmon.

Incumbent Sen. Ron Muzzall voted against Senate Bill 5371 in 2023. That bill required boats to stay 1,000 yards away from orcas, made other changes and improvements to prior regulations and carved out reasonable exceptions. The bill was amended in the Senate and House, and partially vetoed by Gov. Inslee for practical reasons. It passed the House 95-2 (a majority of House Republicans joined with Democrats). But in the Senate’s post-amendment concurrence vote, Sen. Muzzall voted no.

His websites don’t cite specific objections to the bill. Did he oppose it simply because of ideological views about government regulation; even when the regulations are widely supported, are based on scientific evidence, and benefit vulnerable, widely loved animals that can’t speak for themselves?

I’ll be voting for Janet St. Clair in November!

Warren Weissman

Camano Island