Southern Residents May Depend on Interaction With Other Killer Whale Populations \u2014 Archive & KID Assessment<\/title>\n<link rel=\"preconnect\" href=\"https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\">\n<link href=\"https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css2?family=Nunito+Sans:ital,wght@0,400;0,600;0,700;0,800;1,400&display=swap\" rel=\"stylesheet\">\n<style>\n :root {\n --noaa-blue: #0071bc;\n --noaa-dark: #12395b;\n --ink: #333333;\n --muted: #666666;\n --rule: #dfe4e8;\n --box-bg: #f1f6f9;\n --kid-accent: #0b3d5c;\n --kid-bg: #f4f7f5;\n --kid-rule: #cdd8d3;\n }\n * { box-sizing: border-box; }\n body {\n font-family: \"Nunito Sans\", -apple-system, \"Segoe UI\", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\n color: var(--ink);\n line-height: 1.65;\n margin: 0;\n background: #fff;\n }\n .wrap { max-width: 860px; margin: 0 auto; padding: 0 22px 72px; }\n\n .archive-bar {\n background: #eef2f5;\n border-bottom: 1px solid var(--rule);\n color: var(--muted);\n font-size: 0.85rem;\n }\n .archive-bar .wrap { padding-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 12px; }\n .archive-bar strong { color: var(--noaa-dark); }\n .archive-bar a { color: var(--noaa-blue); }\n\n .eyebrow {\n color: var(--noaa-blue);\n text-transform: uppercase;\n letter-spacing: 0.06em;\n font-weight: 700;\n font-size: 0.82rem;\n margin: 34px 0 10px;\n }\n h1 {\n color: var(--noaa-dark);\n font-weight: 800;\n font-size: 2.2rem;\n line-height: 1.18;\n margin: 0 0 0.35em;\n }\n .dek { font-size: 1.15rem; color: #444; margin: 0 0 0.6em; }\n .pubdate { color: var(--muted); font-size: 0.92rem; margin: 0 0 1.4em; }\n\n figure { margin: 1.4em 0; }\n figure img { width: 100%; height: auto; display: block; border-radius: 2px; background: #e9eef1; }\n figure.portrait { max-width: 260px; }\n figcaption { color: var(--muted); font-size: 0.86rem; font-style: italic; margin-top: 0.5em; }\n\n h2 {\n color: var(--noaa-dark);\n font-weight: 800;\n font-size: 1.4rem;\n margin: 1.8em 0 0.4em;\n }\n .qa h2 { color: var(--noaa-blue); }\n p { margin: 0 0 1.05em; }\n a { color: var(--noaa-blue); }\n\n .conn-box {\n background: var(--box-bg);\n border: 1px solid var(--rule);\n border-radius: 4px;\n padding: 22px 24px;\n margin: 2.2em 0;\n }\n .conn-box h3 { color: var(--noaa-dark); margin: 0 0 0.5em; font-size: 1.2rem; }\n .conn-box p { margin: 0 0 0.8em; }\n .conn-box p:last-child { margin-bottom: 0; }\n\n .more h2 { font-size: 1.3rem; }\n .more ul { padding-left: 1.2em; }\n .more li { margin: 0.3em 0; }\n\n hr.section { border: none; border-top: 3px solid var(--kid-accent); margin: 3em 0 0; }\n\n .kid {\n background: var(--kid-bg);\n border: 1px solid var(--kid-rule);\n border-top: 6px solid var(--kid-accent);\n border-radius: 4px;\n padding: 8px 28px 26px;\n margin-top: 2.2em;\n }\n .kid .kid-label {\n color: var(--kid-accent);\n text-transform: uppercase;\n letter-spacing: 0.05em;\n font-weight: 800;\n font-size: 0.82rem;\n margin: 20px 0 6px;\n }\n .kid h2 { color: var(--kid-accent); margin-top: 0.1em; }\n .kid h3 { color: var(--kid-accent); font-size: 1.1rem; margin: 1.3em 0 0.3em; }\n .kid table { width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; margin: 1em 0; font-size: 0.95rem; }\n .kid th, .kid td { border: 1px solid var(--kid-rule); padding: 8px 10px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; }\n .kid th { background: #e8efe9; }\n .kid .caveat {\n background: #fff;\n border-left: 4px solid var(--kid-accent);\n padding: 12px 16px;\n margin: 1.2em 0 0;\n font-size: 0.96rem;\n }\n .note-flag { color: var(--muted); font-style: italic; font-size: 0.9rem; }\n\n @media (max-width: 560px) { h1 { font-size: 1.7rem; } }\n<\/style>\n<\/head>\n<body>\n\n\n<div class=\"archive-bar\">\n <div class=\"wrap\">\n <strong>Archived reproduction.<\/strong> Original article by <strong>NOAA Fisheries<\/strong> (a U.S. Government work, public domain), reproduced here for reference with a Klamath Irrigation District assessment appended below. This page is not affiliated with or endorsed by NOAA. Source:\n <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/feature-story\/endangered-killer-whales-known-isolation-may-depend-their-interaction-other\">fisheries.noaa.gov<\/a> \u00b7 Published March 24, 2026 \u00b7 Archived July 10, 2026.\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n\n \n <p class=\"eyebrow\">Feature Story \u00b7 West Coast<\/p>\n <h1>Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations<\/h1>\n <p class=\"dek\">Scientists describe an additional factor affecting the future of the Southern Residents.<\/p>\n <p class=\"pubdate\">March 24, 2026<\/p>\n\n <figure>\n <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/s3\/\/styles\/original\/s3\/2026-03\/screenshot-2026-03-24-at-8.32.20-am.png?itok=xZvjD-lB\"\n alt=\"Southern Resident killer whale J16 breaches near the San Juan Islands, with J26 nearby.\">\n <figcaption>Southern Resident killer whale J16 breaches near the San Juan Islands, with J26 nearby. The Southern Residents have spent less time in and around the San Juan Islands during summer in recent years. Photo by Katy Foster\/NOAA Fisheries, under permit 18786 (verify credit before publishing).<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n <p>Endangered Southern Resident killer whales are known for the tight-knit family structure that isolates them from other killer whale populations. In 2005, NOAA Fisheries listed the whales as a Distinct Population Segment under the Endangered Species Act because of their unique genetic legacy and endangered status. The 74 whales remain at risk from insufficient prey, environmental contaminants, disturbance, and inbreeding.<\/p>\n\n <p>In a recent study, scientists report that a fifth factor \u2014 interactions with other killer whale populations \u2014 may help determine the Southern Residents' future. Those interactions may take three forms: competition for prey, sharing habitat, and interbreeding. NOAA Fisheries put questions about the findings to lead author Michael Ford.<\/p>\n\n <figure class=\"portrait\">\n <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/s3\/\/styles\/media_250_x_250\/s3\/2026-03\/mike-ford.jpg?itok=vE92JQIf\"\n alt=\"Headshot of Dr. Michael Ford wearing a red sweater.\">\n <figcaption>Dr. Michael Ford (retired), former director of the Conservation Biology Program at NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center and lead author of the study. Credit: NOAA Fisheries.<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n <div class=\"qa\">\n\n <h2>How can killer whales, known for their isolation, depend on interactions with other populations?<\/h2>\n <p>Ford noted that decades of genetic data have shown the Southern Residents to be genetically distinct \u2014 reflecting cultural and behavioral differences \u2014 and that this distinctiveness contributed to their listing under the Endangered Species Act. Over time, though, he suggested there has been a tendency to treat them as more isolated than they really are, and results from recent decades indicate they may be less isolated than once thought.<\/p>\n <p>One open question is whether they are becoming <em>less<\/em> isolated than before. Ford pointed to observed range changes as possible evidence: the Southern Residents are spending less time in their historic Salish Sea home range and more time on the outer coast, especially off Washington, where they are more likely to encounter other populations. Northern Residents, meanwhile, are ranging farther south than was understood 20 or 30 years ago. Both populations spend time off the northern Washington coast and around Vancouver Island. Shifting ranges create more opportunity to interact \u2014 which does not prove they do, but means the opportunity has increased.<\/p>\n\n <figure>\n <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/s3\/\/styles\/media_375_x_250\/s3\/2026-03\/srkws-swiftsure-bank-off-wa-coast-candice-emmons_1.jpg?itok=F90gUp_3\"\n alt=\"Southern Resident killer whales swimming off Swiftsure Bank on the outer Washington coast.\">\n <figcaption>Southern Resident killer whales off Swiftsure Bank on the outer Washington coast, during a fall 2025 survey by NOAA scientists. Research and photographs authorized under federal permit. Credit: Candice Emmons, NOAA Fisheries.<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n <h2>Is it realistic to think the Southern Residents may interbreed with another population?<\/h2>\n <p>Globally, Ford explained, killer whales tend to live in fairly small populations but show some degree of occasional interbreeding with other populations. He cited a 2024 study of tropical killer whale populations that are small yet more genetically diverse than some larger, higher-latitude populations \u2014 apparently because they interbreed more. Some Alaska killer whale populations likewise interbreed with other groups more frequently.<\/p>\n <p>For the Southern Residents, Ford said two lines of evidence suggest interbreeding occurred historically and perhaps more recently. Methods used in the 2023 inbreeding paper to reconstruct effective population size over time show a large increase roughly 20 to 50 generations back \u2014 a pattern also seen in Alaska residents and Bigg's (transient) killer whales \u2014 that likely marks a period of more interbreeding rather than genuinely enormous populations. Their calculations suggest the maximum time the Southern Residents could have been genetically isolated is on the order of 500 years, which is not long in evolutionary terms. A parentage analysis published 10 to 15 years ago, covering Southern Residents and some Alaskan populations, indicated possible interbreeding between the two groups; the lower-resolution methods mean it could be a false positive, but the new paper raises the possibility of more recent interbreeding.<\/p>\n\n <h2>You also say interaction may come in the form of competition for prey. Is that increasing?<\/h2>\n <p>Ford noted the diets of several of these populations are similar: the Southern Residents eat fish, mostly salmon, as do the Northern and Alaska Residents. They do not all target the same salmon stocks and there are seasonal differences, but they share some of the same larger stocks. Salmon leave Pacific Northwest rivers such as the Columbia, largely head into the North Pacific, and return along the coast as adults, where different killer whale populations prey on them. As understanding of these populations' diets improves, Ford said, it is becoming clear that other killer whale populations also eat a great deal of Chinook salmon and may be out-competing the Southern Residents for it.<\/p>\n <p>This matters more, he added, because those other populations have largely grown over the past 30 years while the Southern Residents have not. The Northern Resident population has roughly tripled over that period. Research estimating how much salmon each population consumes suggests the totals are large; with 300-some Northern Residents and multiple hundred Alaska Residents competing for the same resource against far fewer Southern Residents \u2014 and being less inbred \u2014 the other populations may simply be more successful. It becomes, in his words, a numbers game.<\/p>\n\n <figure>\n <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/s3\/\/styles\/media_640_x_427\/s3\/2026-03\/screenshot-2026-03-24-at-8.33.12-am.png?itok=ODDg8WJc\"\n alt=\"Southern Resident killer whale off the northern Washington coast.\">\n <figcaption>Southern Resident killer whale off the northern Washington coast, where the whales have increasingly spent their summer months in recent years. Photo by Candice Emmons\/NOAA Fisheries. Research and photographs authorized under federal permit.<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n <h2>You outline scenarios where the Southern Residents disappear by 2100. Is inbreeding driving that?<\/h2>\n <p>The models Ford referenced, some done at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, take an \"if present trends continue\" approach: if the Southern Residents keep the same average birth and death rates as recent decades, the demographic prediction is decline. That does not mean extinction by 2100, but it points in that direction, and other published models reach similar conclusions. Ford noted the 2023 inbreeding paper showed that if the population were not inbred \u2014 if every individual had the survival rates predicted for the least-inbred whales \u2014 that trend would reverse and, all else equal, the population would grow. That, he said, indicates inbreeding is a fairly big problem for the population.<\/p>\n <p>Ford emphasized there is not much people or managers can do to encourage interbreeding directly. But given the spatial overlap with other populations and what killer whales do elsewhere in the world, he said it is not implausible that some interbreeding could occur in the future simply through increased opportunity \u2014 and if it did, he believes it <em>\u201cwould be really beneficial to the population.\u201d<\/em> He recommended exploring population models to examine such scenarios: occasional interbreeding that leaves a still-distinct Southern Resident population with higher survival and less inbreeding, or heavier interbreeding in which the population effectively merges with, for example, the Northern Residents. If the Southern Residents continue to decline while the Northern Residents grow, there could gradually be more of the latter and fewer of the former \u2014 still fish-eating killer whales, but different ones \u2014 a shift that might be hard to notice because it could happen very slowly.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <div class=\"conn-box\">\n <h3>Primary source<\/h3>\n <p>Ford, M.J., Ward, E.J., Kardos, M., Parsons, K.M., Emmons, C., & Hanson, M.B. (2026). Perspective: The Future of the Southern Resident Killer Whales Depends on Interactions With Other Killer Whale Populations. <em>Ecology and Evolution<\/em>, 16(3), e73205. DOI: <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/ece3.73205\">10.1002\/ece3.73205<\/a>. PMID: 41798310. Open access (CC BY 4.0).<\/p>\n <p>Two points from the peer-reviewed perspective are worth recording directly. First, the authors state that the only realistic way to reduce inbreeding depression in the Southern Resident population is outbreeding with another population \u2014 \"genetic rescue,\" whether assisted or natural \u2014 while cautioning that learned behavior and culture appear to limit such outbreeding. Second, among the futures they sketch to 2100 is a \"replacement\" scenario in which the Southern Residents remain genetically isolated and continue to decline from inbreeding <em>even as recovery actions succeed in increasing prey and reducing other threats<\/em>, while Northern Residents expand southward into the former Southern Resident range.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <div class=\"more\">\n <h2>More Information<\/h2>\n <ul>\n <li><a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/ece3.73205\">Ford et al. 2026 \u2014 Perspective on Southern Resident interactions (Ecology & Evolution)<\/a><\/li>\n <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/feature-story\/inbreeding-contributes-decline-endangered-killer-whales\">Inbreeding Contributes to Decline of Endangered Killer Whales (2023 NOAA feature)<\/a><\/li>\n <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41559-023-01995-0\">Kardos et al. 2023 \u2014 Inbreeding depression explains killer whale population dynamics (Nature Ecology & Evolution)<\/a><\/li>\n <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/west-coast\/science-data\/southern-resident-killer-whale-research-pacific-northwest\">Southern Resident Killer Whale Research in the Pacific Northwest<\/a><\/li>\n <li><a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/mec.17689\">Tropical killer whale populations and interbreeding (Molecular Ecology, 2024) \u2014 referenced in the interview<\/a><\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <\/div>\n\n <hr class=\"section\">\n\n \n <div class=\"kid\">\n <p class=\"kid-label\">Klamath Irrigation District \u2014 Assessment<\/p>\n <h2>What this source establishes, and how KID reads it<\/h2>\n\n <p class=\"note-flag\">The points below distinguish what NOAA and the peer-reviewed perspective report from KID's own inferences, which are labeled as inferences.<\/p>\n\n <h3>What NOAA and the peer-reviewed perspective report (observed \/ modeled \/ stated)<\/h3>\n <table>\n <thead><tr><th>Point<\/th><th>Basis<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>\n <tbody>\n <tr><td>Interactions with other killer whale populations \u2014 competition for prey, shared habitat, and interbreeding \u2014 are proposed as a \"fifth factor\" in the Southern Residents' status.<\/td><td>Stated argument \u2014 Ford et al. 2026.<\/td><\/tr>\n <tr><td>Outbreeding (\"genetic rescue\") is described as the only realistic way to reduce inbreeding depression in the population; culture and learned behavior appear to limit it.<\/td><td>Stated conclusion \u2014 Ford et al. 2026.<\/td><\/tr>\n <tr><td>A \"replacement\" scenario has the Southern Residents continuing to decline from inbreeding even as prey increases and other threats are reduced, while Northern Residents expand into their range.<\/td><td>Modeled scenario \u2014 Ford et al. 2026.<\/td><\/tr>\n <tr><td>Population stands at 74; Northern Residents have roughly tripled to 300-plus while Southern Residents have not grown, and may out-compete them for Chinook.<\/td><td>Observed \/ estimated.<\/td><\/tr>\n <tr><td>In the 2023 inbreeding paper, assigning all whales the least-inbred survival rates reverses the projected decline.<\/td><td>Modeled \u2014 Kardos et al. 2023.<\/td><\/tr>\n <tr><td>There is little managers can do to force interbreeding; any gene flow would most plausibly occur naturally through increased range overlap.<\/td><td>Stated view \u2014 Ford et al. 2026.<\/td><\/tr>\n <\/tbody>\n <\/table>\n\n <h3>KID's inference (labeled as inference)<\/h3>\n <p>KID infers that this peer-reviewed perspective reinforces the reading that Southern Resident recovery is constrained by intrinsic genetics and by inter-population dynamics that prey-directed measures do not, by themselves, address. The authors' own \"replacement\" scenario \u2014 continued decline driven by inbreeding <em>even where prey increases and other threats are reduced<\/em> \u2014 is, in KID's view, a NOAA-authored, peer-reviewed statement that prey- and flow-directed actions may be insufficient to prevent the population's decline, and that the decisive levers (outbreeding \/ gene flow) lie outside prey management. KID presents this as an inference drawn from the cited record, not as a claim made by NOAA.<\/p>\n\n <div class=\"caveat\">\n <strong>Fair-representation caveat.<\/strong> The authors do not argue that prey is unimportant. They continue to list insufficient prey among the population's threats, treat competition for Chinook as one of the three interaction forms, and frame population interactions and genetics as <em>additions to<\/em> \u2014 not replacements for \u2014 the known threats. In related coverage, the study's authors have emphasized that improving the whales' environment remains central to any realistic recovery. Any KID use of this source should present both the strong intrinsic\/genetic constraint and the authors' position that these factors interact rather than compete. Cite the Ford et al. 2026 perspective and Kardos et al. 2023 directly for any specific figure or scenario.\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/body>\n<\/html><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsupdates"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations - Klamath Irrigation District<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations - Klamath Irrigation District\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Klamath Irrigation District\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/klamath.irrigation.district.official\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-10T23:59:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-10T23:59:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Souza\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Souza\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/10\\\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/10\\\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gene Souza\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/853919c92b88e1f3ae3a00adc89936a9\"},\"headline\":\"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T23:59:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-10T23:59:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/10\\\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":3507,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"News&Updates\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/10\\\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/10\\\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\\\/\",\"name\":\"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations - Klamath Irrigation District\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T23:59:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-10T23:59:30+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/10\\\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/10\\\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/10\\\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/\",\"name\":\"Klamath Irrigation District\",\"description\":\"Building Communities Since 1905\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Klamath Irrigation District\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/KID_RWB.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/KID_RWB.jpg\",\"width\":2550,\"height\":2475,\"caption\":\"Klamath Irrigation District\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/klamath.irrigation.district.official\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/@klamathirrigationdistrictqdEn2RQ5VuYsInl0tKTi6SSlTnwkRuBp\",\"https:\\\/\\\/l.facebook.com\\\/l.php?u=httpslinkedin.cominlinkedin.com2Fcompany2Fklamath-irrigation-districtfbclidIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExUUFSRmhjME5PNTlyVE45SgEeBGkZAP-rpf-_AhZ09Wd5_-fbRCD3RnEITnMdYq0t1Vxmv7VE3exgbbmWZq8_aem_MV2-PWqySuvxAoZRyqbDYg&h=AT1wtrbx85WKy4sULkztkj0zWLnQc1L7YYk6yLfiD70uaKjYPHrJFJ1oFchggb_MZY3qzNbiAFSqMkm1HQoDK-jWq1EmgLywXvZFqdEn2RQ5VuYsInl0tKTi6SSlTnwkRuBp\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/853919c92b88e1f3ae3a00adc89936a9\",\"name\":\"Gene Souza\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8f24d5a8cbbbe9e14ebf774897d27a30dea6e51f87e41716f829f809a4d0b8a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8f24d5a8cbbbe9e14ebf774897d27a30dea6e51f87e41716f829f809a4d0b8a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8f24d5a8cbbbe9e14ebf774897d27a30dea6e51f87e41716f829f809a4d0b8a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gene Souza\"},\"description\":\"Gene works to keep water flowing in Klamath Falls.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/KlamathID.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/author\\\/kid_gene_admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations - Klamath Irrigation District","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations - Klamath Irrigation District","og_url":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/","og_site_name":"Klamath Irrigation District","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/klamath.irrigation.district.official","article_published_time":"2026-07-10T23:59:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-10T23:59:30+00:00","author":"Gene Souza","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gene Souza","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/"},"author":{"name":"Gene Souza","@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/853919c92b88e1f3ae3a00adc89936a9"},"headline":"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations","datePublished":"2026-07-10T23:59:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-10T23:59:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/"},"wordCount":3507,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#organization"},"articleSection":["News&Updates"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/","url":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/","name":"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations - Klamath Irrigation District","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-07-10T23:59:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-10T23:59:30+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#website","url":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/","name":"Klamath Irrigation District","description":"Building Communities Since 1905","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#organization","name":"Klamath Irrigation District","url":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/KID_RWB.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/KID_RWB.jpg","width":2550,"height":2475,"caption":"Klamath Irrigation District"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/klamath.irrigation.district.official","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@klamathirrigationdistrictqdEn2RQ5VuYsInl0tKTi6SSlTnwkRuBp","https:\/\/l.facebook.com\/l.php?u=httpslinkedin.cominlinkedin.com2Fcompany2Fklamath-irrigation-districtfbclidIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExUUFSRmhjME5PNTlyVE45SgEeBGkZAP-rpf-_AhZ09Wd5_-fbRCD3RnEITnMdYq0t1Vxmv7VE3exgbbmWZq8_aem_MV2-PWqySuvxAoZRyqbDYg&h=AT1wtrbx85WKy4sULkztkj0zWLnQc1L7YYk6yLfiD70uaKjYPHrJFJ1oFchggb_MZY3qzNbiAFSqMkm1HQoDK-jWq1EmgLywXvZFqdEn2RQ5VuYsInl0tKTi6SSlTnwkRuBp"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/853919c92b88e1f3ae3a00adc89936a9","name":"Gene Souza","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f24d5a8cbbbe9e14ebf774897d27a30dea6e51f87e41716f829f809a4d0b8a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f24d5a8cbbbe9e14ebf774897d27a30dea6e51f87e41716f829f809a4d0b8a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f24d5a8cbbbe9e14ebf774897d27a30dea6e51f87e41716f829f809a4d0b8a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gene Souza"},"description":"Gene works to keep water flowing in Klamath Falls.","sameAs":["http:\/\/KlamathID.org"],"url":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/author\/kid_gene_admin\/"}]}},"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Gene Souza","author_link":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/author\/kid_gene_admin\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/category\/newsupdates\/\" rel=\"category tag\">News&Updates<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4500"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4502,"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4500\/revisions\/4502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

\n\n\n\n\nSouthern Residents May Depend on Interaction With Other Killer Whale Populations \u2014 Archive & KID Assessment<\/title>\n<link rel=\"preconnect\" href=\"https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\">\n<link href=\"https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css2?family=Nunito+Sans:ital,wght@0,400;0,600;0,700;0,800;1,400&display=swap\" rel=\"stylesheet\">\n<style>\n :root {\n --noaa-blue: #0071bc;\n --noaa-dark: #12395b;\n --ink: #333333;\n --muted: #666666;\n --rule: #dfe4e8;\n --box-bg: #f1f6f9;\n --kid-accent: #0b3d5c;\n --kid-bg: #f4f7f5;\n --kid-rule: #cdd8d3;\n }\n * { box-sizing: border-box; }\n body {\n font-family: \"Nunito Sans\", -apple-system, \"Segoe UI\", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\n color: var(--ink);\n line-height: 1.65;\n margin: 0;\n background: #fff;\n }\n .wrap { max-width: 860px; margin: 0 auto; padding: 0 22px 72px; }\n\n .archive-bar {\n background: #eef2f5;\n border-bottom: 1px solid var(--rule);\n color: var(--muted);\n font-size: 0.85rem;\n }\n .archive-bar .wrap { padding-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 12px; }\n .archive-bar strong { color: var(--noaa-dark); }\n .archive-bar a { color: var(--noaa-blue); }\n\n .eyebrow {\n color: var(--noaa-blue);\n text-transform: uppercase;\n letter-spacing: 0.06em;\n font-weight: 700;\n font-size: 0.82rem;\n margin: 34px 0 10px;\n }\n h1 {\n color: var(--noaa-dark);\n font-weight: 800;\n font-size: 2.2rem;\n line-height: 1.18;\n margin: 0 0 0.35em;\n }\n .dek { font-size: 1.15rem; color: #444; margin: 0 0 0.6em; }\n .pubdate { color: var(--muted); font-size: 0.92rem; margin: 0 0 1.4em; }\n\n figure { margin: 1.4em 0; }\n figure img { width: 100%; height: auto; display: block; border-radius: 2px; background: #e9eef1; }\n figure.portrait { max-width: 260px; }\n figcaption { color: var(--muted); font-size: 0.86rem; font-style: italic; margin-top: 0.5em; }\n\n h2 {\n color: var(--noaa-dark);\n font-weight: 800;\n font-size: 1.4rem;\n margin: 1.8em 0 0.4em;\n }\n .qa h2 { color: var(--noaa-blue); }\n p { margin: 0 0 1.05em; }\n a { color: var(--noaa-blue); }\n\n .conn-box {\n background: var(--box-bg);\n border: 1px solid var(--rule);\n border-radius: 4px;\n padding: 22px 24px;\n margin: 2.2em 0;\n }\n .conn-box h3 { color: var(--noaa-dark); margin: 0 0 0.5em; font-size: 1.2rem; }\n .conn-box p { margin: 0 0 0.8em; }\n .conn-box p:last-child { margin-bottom: 0; }\n\n .more h2 { font-size: 1.3rem; }\n .more ul { padding-left: 1.2em; }\n .more li { margin: 0.3em 0; }\n\n hr.section { border: none; border-top: 3px solid var(--kid-accent); margin: 3em 0 0; }\n\n .kid {\n background: var(--kid-bg);\n border: 1px solid var(--kid-rule);\n border-top: 6px solid var(--kid-accent);\n border-radius: 4px;\n padding: 8px 28px 26px;\n margin-top: 2.2em;\n }\n .kid .kid-label {\n color: var(--kid-accent);\n text-transform: uppercase;\n letter-spacing: 0.05em;\n font-weight: 800;\n font-size: 0.82rem;\n margin: 20px 0 6px;\n }\n .kid h2 { color: var(--kid-accent); margin-top: 0.1em; }\n .kid h3 { color: var(--kid-accent); font-size: 1.1rem; margin: 1.3em 0 0.3em; }\n .kid table { width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; margin: 1em 0; font-size: 0.95rem; }\n .kid th, .kid td { border: 1px solid var(--kid-rule); padding: 8px 10px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; }\n .kid th { background: #e8efe9; }\n .kid .caveat {\n background: #fff;\n border-left: 4px solid var(--kid-accent);\n padding: 12px 16px;\n margin: 1.2em 0 0;\n font-size: 0.96rem;\n }\n .note-flag { color: var(--muted); font-style: italic; font-size: 0.9rem; }\n\n @media (max-width: 560px) { h1 { font-size: 1.7rem; } }\n<\/style>\n<\/head>\n<body>\n\n\n<div class=\"archive-bar\">\n <div class=\"wrap\">\n <strong>Archived reproduction.<\/strong> Original article by <strong>NOAA Fisheries<\/strong> (a U.S. Government work, public domain), reproduced here for reference with a Klamath Irrigation District assessment appended below. This page is not affiliated with or endorsed by NOAA. Source:\n <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/feature-story\/endangered-killer-whales-known-isolation-may-depend-their-interaction-other\">fisheries.noaa.gov<\/a> \u00b7 Published March 24, 2026 \u00b7 Archived July 10, 2026.\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n\n \n <p class=\"eyebrow\">Feature Story \u00b7 West Coast<\/p>\n <h1>Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations<\/h1>\n <p class=\"dek\">Scientists describe an additional factor affecting the future of the Southern Residents.<\/p>\n <p class=\"pubdate\">March 24, 2026<\/p>\n\n <figure>\n <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/s3\/\/styles\/original\/s3\/2026-03\/screenshot-2026-03-24-at-8.32.20-am.png?itok=xZvjD-lB\"\n alt=\"Southern Resident killer whale J16 breaches near the San Juan Islands, with J26 nearby.\">\n <figcaption>Southern Resident killer whale J16 breaches near the San Juan Islands, with J26 nearby. The Southern Residents have spent less time in and around the San Juan Islands during summer in recent years. Photo by Katy Foster\/NOAA Fisheries, under permit 18786 (verify credit before publishing).<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n <p>Endangered Southern Resident killer whales are known for the tight-knit family structure that isolates them from other killer whale populations. In 2005, NOAA Fisheries listed the whales as a Distinct Population Segment under the Endangered Species Act because of their unique genetic legacy and endangered status. The 74 whales remain at risk from insufficient prey, environmental contaminants, disturbance, and inbreeding.<\/p>\n\n <p>In a recent study, scientists report that a fifth factor \u2014 interactions with other killer whale populations \u2014 may help determine the Southern Residents' future. Those interactions may take three forms: competition for prey, sharing habitat, and interbreeding. NOAA Fisheries put questions about the findings to lead author Michael Ford.<\/p>\n\n <figure class=\"portrait\">\n <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/s3\/\/styles\/media_250_x_250\/s3\/2026-03\/mike-ford.jpg?itok=vE92JQIf\"\n alt=\"Headshot of Dr. Michael Ford wearing a red sweater.\">\n <figcaption>Dr. Michael Ford (retired), former director of the Conservation Biology Program at NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center and lead author of the study. Credit: NOAA Fisheries.<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n <div class=\"qa\">\n\n <h2>How can killer whales, known for their isolation, depend on interactions with other populations?<\/h2>\n <p>Ford noted that decades of genetic data have shown the Southern Residents to be genetically distinct \u2014 reflecting cultural and behavioral differences \u2014 and that this distinctiveness contributed to their listing under the Endangered Species Act. Over time, though, he suggested there has been a tendency to treat them as more isolated than they really are, and results from recent decades indicate they may be less isolated than once thought.<\/p>\n <p>One open question is whether they are becoming <em>less<\/em> isolated than before. Ford pointed to observed range changes as possible evidence: the Southern Residents are spending less time in their historic Salish Sea home range and more time on the outer coast, especially off Washington, where they are more likely to encounter other populations. Northern Residents, meanwhile, are ranging farther south than was understood 20 or 30 years ago. Both populations spend time off the northern Washington coast and around Vancouver Island. Shifting ranges create more opportunity to interact \u2014 which does not prove they do, but means the opportunity has increased.<\/p>\n\n <figure>\n <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/s3\/\/styles\/media_375_x_250\/s3\/2026-03\/srkws-swiftsure-bank-off-wa-coast-candice-emmons_1.jpg?itok=F90gUp_3\"\n alt=\"Southern Resident killer whales swimming off Swiftsure Bank on the outer Washington coast.\">\n <figcaption>Southern Resident killer whales off Swiftsure Bank on the outer Washington coast, during a fall 2025 survey by NOAA scientists. Research and photographs authorized under federal permit. Credit: Candice Emmons, NOAA Fisheries.<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n <h2>Is it realistic to think the Southern Residents may interbreed with another population?<\/h2>\n <p>Globally, Ford explained, killer whales tend to live in fairly small populations but show some degree of occasional interbreeding with other populations. He cited a 2024 study of tropical killer whale populations that are small yet more genetically diverse than some larger, higher-latitude populations \u2014 apparently because they interbreed more. Some Alaska killer whale populations likewise interbreed with other groups more frequently.<\/p>\n <p>For the Southern Residents, Ford said two lines of evidence suggest interbreeding occurred historically and perhaps more recently. Methods used in the 2023 inbreeding paper to reconstruct effective population size over time show a large increase roughly 20 to 50 generations back \u2014 a pattern also seen in Alaska residents and Bigg's (transient) killer whales \u2014 that likely marks a period of more interbreeding rather than genuinely enormous populations. Their calculations suggest the maximum time the Southern Residents could have been genetically isolated is on the order of 500 years, which is not long in evolutionary terms. A parentage analysis published 10 to 15 years ago, covering Southern Residents and some Alaskan populations, indicated possible interbreeding between the two groups; the lower-resolution methods mean it could be a false positive, but the new paper raises the possibility of more recent interbreeding.<\/p>\n\n <h2>You also say interaction may come in the form of competition for prey. Is that increasing?<\/h2>\n <p>Ford noted the diets of several of these populations are similar: the Southern Residents eat fish, mostly salmon, as do the Northern and Alaska Residents. They do not all target the same salmon stocks and there are seasonal differences, but they share some of the same larger stocks. Salmon leave Pacific Northwest rivers such as the Columbia, largely head into the North Pacific, and return along the coast as adults, where different killer whale populations prey on them. As understanding of these populations' diets improves, Ford said, it is becoming clear that other killer whale populations also eat a great deal of Chinook salmon and may be out-competing the Southern Residents for it.<\/p>\n <p>This matters more, he added, because those other populations have largely grown over the past 30 years while the Southern Residents have not. The Northern Resident population has roughly tripled over that period. Research estimating how much salmon each population consumes suggests the totals are large; with 300-some Northern Residents and multiple hundred Alaska Residents competing for the same resource against far fewer Southern Residents \u2014 and being less inbred \u2014 the other populations may simply be more successful. It becomes, in his words, a numbers game.<\/p>\n\n <figure>\n <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/s3\/\/styles\/media_640_x_427\/s3\/2026-03\/screenshot-2026-03-24-at-8.33.12-am.png?itok=ODDg8WJc\"\n alt=\"Southern Resident killer whale off the northern Washington coast.\">\n <figcaption>Southern Resident killer whale off the northern Washington coast, where the whales have increasingly spent their summer months in recent years. Photo by Candice Emmons\/NOAA Fisheries. Research and photographs authorized under federal permit.<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n <h2>You outline scenarios where the Southern Residents disappear by 2100. Is inbreeding driving that?<\/h2>\n <p>The models Ford referenced, some done at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, take an \"if present trends continue\" approach: if the Southern Residents keep the same average birth and death rates as recent decades, the demographic prediction is decline. That does not mean extinction by 2100, but it points in that direction, and other published models reach similar conclusions. Ford noted the 2023 inbreeding paper showed that if the population were not inbred \u2014 if every individual had the survival rates predicted for the least-inbred whales \u2014 that trend would reverse and, all else equal, the population would grow. That, he said, indicates inbreeding is a fairly big problem for the population.<\/p>\n <p>Ford emphasized there is not much people or managers can do to encourage interbreeding directly. But given the spatial overlap with other populations and what killer whales do elsewhere in the world, he said it is not implausible that some interbreeding could occur in the future simply through increased opportunity \u2014 and if it did, he believes it <em>\u201cwould be really beneficial to the population.\u201d<\/em> He recommended exploring population models to examine such scenarios: occasional interbreeding that leaves a still-distinct Southern Resident population with higher survival and less inbreeding, or heavier interbreeding in which the population effectively merges with, for example, the Northern Residents. If the Southern Residents continue to decline while the Northern Residents grow, there could gradually be more of the latter and fewer of the former \u2014 still fish-eating killer whales, but different ones \u2014 a shift that might be hard to notice because it could happen very slowly.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <div class=\"conn-box\">\n <h3>Primary source<\/h3>\n <p>Ford, M.J., Ward, E.J., Kardos, M., Parsons, K.M., Emmons, C., & Hanson, M.B. (2026). Perspective: The Future of the Southern Resident Killer Whales Depends on Interactions With Other Killer Whale Populations. <em>Ecology and Evolution<\/em>, 16(3), e73205. DOI: <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/ece3.73205\">10.1002\/ece3.73205<\/a>. PMID: 41798310. Open access (CC BY 4.0).<\/p>\n <p>Two points from the peer-reviewed perspective are worth recording directly. First, the authors state that the only realistic way to reduce inbreeding depression in the Southern Resident population is outbreeding with another population \u2014 \"genetic rescue,\" whether assisted or natural \u2014 while cautioning that learned behavior and culture appear to limit such outbreeding. Second, among the futures they sketch to 2100 is a \"replacement\" scenario in which the Southern Residents remain genetically isolated and continue to decline from inbreeding <em>even as recovery actions succeed in increasing prey and reducing other threats<\/em>, while Northern Residents expand southward into the former Southern Resident range.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <div class=\"more\">\n <h2>More Information<\/h2>\n <ul>\n <li><a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/ece3.73205\">Ford et al. 2026 \u2014 Perspective on Southern Resident interactions (Ecology & Evolution)<\/a><\/li>\n <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/feature-story\/inbreeding-contributes-decline-endangered-killer-whales\">Inbreeding Contributes to Decline of Endangered Killer Whales (2023 NOAA feature)<\/a><\/li>\n <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41559-023-01995-0\">Kardos et al. 2023 \u2014 Inbreeding depression explains killer whale population dynamics (Nature Ecology & Evolution)<\/a><\/li>\n <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/west-coast\/science-data\/southern-resident-killer-whale-research-pacific-northwest\">Southern Resident Killer Whale Research in the Pacific Northwest<\/a><\/li>\n <li><a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/mec.17689\">Tropical killer whale populations and interbreeding (Molecular Ecology, 2024) \u2014 referenced in the interview<\/a><\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <\/div>\n\n <hr class=\"section\">\n\n \n <div class=\"kid\">\n <p class=\"kid-label\">Klamath Irrigation District \u2014 Assessment<\/p>\n <h2>What this source establishes, and how KID reads it<\/h2>\n\n <p class=\"note-flag\">The points below distinguish what NOAA and the peer-reviewed perspective report from KID's own inferences, which are labeled as inferences.<\/p>\n\n <h3>What NOAA and the peer-reviewed perspective report (observed \/ modeled \/ stated)<\/h3>\n <table>\n <thead><tr><th>Point<\/th><th>Basis<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>\n <tbody>\n <tr><td>Interactions with other killer whale populations \u2014 competition for prey, shared habitat, and interbreeding \u2014 are proposed as a \"fifth factor\" in the Southern Residents' status.<\/td><td>Stated argument \u2014 Ford et al. 2026.<\/td><\/tr>\n <tr><td>Outbreeding (\"genetic rescue\") is described as the only realistic way to reduce inbreeding depression in the population; culture and learned behavior appear to limit it.<\/td><td>Stated conclusion \u2014 Ford et al. 2026.<\/td><\/tr>\n <tr><td>A \"replacement\" scenario has the Southern Residents continuing to decline from inbreeding even as prey increases and other threats are reduced, while Northern Residents expand into their range.<\/td><td>Modeled scenario \u2014 Ford et al. 2026.<\/td><\/tr>\n <tr><td>Population stands at 74; Northern Residents have roughly tripled to 300-plus while Southern Residents have not grown, and may out-compete them for Chinook.<\/td><td>Observed \/ estimated.<\/td><\/tr>\n <tr><td>In the 2023 inbreeding paper, assigning all whales the least-inbred survival rates reverses the projected decline.<\/td><td>Modeled \u2014 Kardos et al. 2023.<\/td><\/tr>\n <tr><td>There is little managers can do to force interbreeding; any gene flow would most plausibly occur naturally through increased range overlap.<\/td><td>Stated view \u2014 Ford et al. 2026.<\/td><\/tr>\n <\/tbody>\n <\/table>\n\n <h3>KID's inference (labeled as inference)<\/h3>\n <p>KID infers that this peer-reviewed perspective reinforces the reading that Southern Resident recovery is constrained by intrinsic genetics and by inter-population dynamics that prey-directed measures do not, by themselves, address. The authors' own \"replacement\" scenario \u2014 continued decline driven by inbreeding <em>even where prey increases and other threats are reduced<\/em> \u2014 is, in KID's view, a NOAA-authored, peer-reviewed statement that prey- and flow-directed actions may be insufficient to prevent the population's decline, and that the decisive levers (outbreeding \/ gene flow) lie outside prey management. KID presents this as an inference drawn from the cited record, not as a claim made by NOAA.<\/p>\n\n <div class=\"caveat\">\n <strong>Fair-representation caveat.<\/strong> The authors do not argue that prey is unimportant. They continue to list insufficient prey among the population's threats, treat competition for Chinook as one of the three interaction forms, and frame population interactions and genetics as <em>additions to<\/em> \u2014 not replacements for \u2014 the known threats. In related coverage, the study's authors have emphasized that improving the whales' environment remains central to any realistic recovery. Any KID use of this source should present both the strong intrinsic\/genetic constraint and the authors' position that these factors interact rather than compete. Cite the Ford et al. 2026 perspective and Kardos et al. 2023 directly for any specific figure or scenario.\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/body>\n<\/html><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsupdates"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations - Klamath Irrigation District<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations - Klamath Irrigation District\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Klamath Irrigation District\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/klamath.irrigation.district.official\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-10T23:59:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-10T23:59:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Souza\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Souza\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/10\\\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/10\\\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gene Souza\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/853919c92b88e1f3ae3a00adc89936a9\"},\"headline\":\"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T23:59:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-10T23:59:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/10\\\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":3507,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"News&Updates\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/10\\\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/10\\\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\\\/\",\"name\":\"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations - Klamath Irrigation District\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T23:59:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-10T23:59:30+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/10\\\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/10\\\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/10\\\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/\",\"name\":\"Klamath Irrigation District\",\"description\":\"Building Communities Since 1905\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Klamath Irrigation District\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/KID_RWB.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/KID_RWB.jpg\",\"width\":2550,\"height\":2475,\"caption\":\"Klamath Irrigation District\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/klamath.irrigation.district.official\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/@klamathirrigationdistrictqdEn2RQ5VuYsInl0tKTi6SSlTnwkRuBp\",\"https:\\\/\\\/l.facebook.com\\\/l.php?u=httpslinkedin.cominlinkedin.com2Fcompany2Fklamath-irrigation-districtfbclidIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExUUFSRmhjME5PNTlyVE45SgEeBGkZAP-rpf-_AhZ09Wd5_-fbRCD3RnEITnMdYq0t1Vxmv7VE3exgbbmWZq8_aem_MV2-PWqySuvxAoZRyqbDYg&h=AT1wtrbx85WKy4sULkztkj0zWLnQc1L7YYk6yLfiD70uaKjYPHrJFJ1oFchggb_MZY3qzNbiAFSqMkm1HQoDK-jWq1EmgLywXvZFqdEn2RQ5VuYsInl0tKTi6SSlTnwkRuBp\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/853919c92b88e1f3ae3a00adc89936a9\",\"name\":\"Gene Souza\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8f24d5a8cbbbe9e14ebf774897d27a30dea6e51f87e41716f829f809a4d0b8a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8f24d5a8cbbbe9e14ebf774897d27a30dea6e51f87e41716f829f809a4d0b8a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8f24d5a8cbbbe9e14ebf774897d27a30dea6e51f87e41716f829f809a4d0b8a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gene Souza\"},\"description\":\"Gene works to keep water flowing in Klamath Falls.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/KlamathID.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/klamathid.org\\\/home\\\/author\\\/kid_gene_admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations - Klamath Irrigation District","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations - Klamath Irrigation District","og_url":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/","og_site_name":"Klamath Irrigation District","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/klamath.irrigation.district.official","article_published_time":"2026-07-10T23:59:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-10T23:59:30+00:00","author":"Gene Souza","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gene Souza","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/"},"author":{"name":"Gene Souza","@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/853919c92b88e1f3ae3a00adc89936a9"},"headline":"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations","datePublished":"2026-07-10T23:59:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-10T23:59:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/"},"wordCount":3507,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#organization"},"articleSection":["News&Updates"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/","url":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/","name":"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations - Klamath Irrigation District","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-07-10T23:59:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-10T23:59:30+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/07\/10\/endangered-killer-whales-known-for-isolation-may-depend-on-their-interaction-with-other-populations\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction With Other Populations"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#website","url":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/","name":"Klamath Irrigation District","description":"Building Communities Since 1905","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#organization","name":"Klamath Irrigation District","url":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/KID_RWB.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/KID_RWB.jpg","width":2550,"height":2475,"caption":"Klamath Irrigation District"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/klamath.irrigation.district.official","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@klamathirrigationdistrictqdEn2RQ5VuYsInl0tKTi6SSlTnwkRuBp","https:\/\/l.facebook.com\/l.php?u=httpslinkedin.cominlinkedin.com2Fcompany2Fklamath-irrigation-districtfbclidIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExUUFSRmhjME5PNTlyVE45SgEeBGkZAP-rpf-_AhZ09Wd5_-fbRCD3RnEITnMdYq0t1Vxmv7VE3exgbbmWZq8_aem_MV2-PWqySuvxAoZRyqbDYg&h=AT1wtrbx85WKy4sULkztkj0zWLnQc1L7YYk6yLfiD70uaKjYPHrJFJ1oFchggb_MZY3qzNbiAFSqMkm1HQoDK-jWq1EmgLywXvZFqdEn2RQ5VuYsInl0tKTi6SSlTnwkRuBp"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/853919c92b88e1f3ae3a00adc89936a9","name":"Gene Souza","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f24d5a8cbbbe9e14ebf774897d27a30dea6e51f87e41716f829f809a4d0b8a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f24d5a8cbbbe9e14ebf774897d27a30dea6e51f87e41716f829f809a4d0b8a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f24d5a8cbbbe9e14ebf774897d27a30dea6e51f87e41716f829f809a4d0b8a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gene Souza"},"description":"Gene works to keep water flowing in Klamath Falls.","sameAs":["http:\/\/KlamathID.org"],"url":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/author\/kid_gene_admin\/"}]}},"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Gene Souza","author_link":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/author\/kid_gene_admin\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/category\/newsupdates\/\" rel=\"category tag\">News&Updates<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4500"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4502,"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4500\/revisions\/4502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}