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Building a Sanctuary for Orcas
ORCA EMBASSY SALISH
A sanctuary at sea for orcas, salmon, education, and hope.
The Salish Sea is home to one of the most remarkable populations of whales on Earth.
It is also home to the Southern Resident killer whales—a population facing serious challenges, including limited access to the Chinook salmon they depend upon.
Orca Embassy SALISH is building a new approach to conservation.
Our vision is to repurpose a decommissioned Washington State ferry into a floating center for salmon restoration, marine education, research, habitat partnerships, and—over time—a sanctuary for cetaceans that need a safe place to call home.
We are building the idea now.
WHY ORCA EMBASSY?
The Southern Residents cannot wait for a single solution.
Their future is connected to salmon, healthy habitat, clean water, responsible stewardship, and the people who care enough to act.
Our work focuses on four connected areas:
SALMON
We are developing the concept of a floating salmon hatchery that could help increase salmon production while supporting education, research, and conservation.
HABITAT
We believe salmon and orca recovery must include the places salmon depend upon. We want to work alongside organizations restoring kelp, eelgrass, nearshore habitat, and the larger Salish Sea ecosystem.
EDUCATION
A working conservation vessel can become a classroom on the water.
We envision students learning about salmon, whales, marine science, water quality, habitat restoration, and stewardship through hands-on experiences.
SANCTUARY
Our long-term vision includes creating refuge and rehabilitation opportunities for cetaceans that cannot simply be returned to the wild.
THE FLOATING HATCHERY
One ferry. A new purpose.
Imagine taking a retired Washington State ferry and giving it another life.
Instead of becoming scrap, it could become a floating conservation center in the Salish Sea.
Our developing concept includes:
A salmon hatchery
Research and monitoring space
Student learning areas
Marine education
Community gathering space
Habitat-restoration partnerships
A future sanctuary and refuge component
The hatchery concept is still being researched and developed. Production capacity, salmon stocks, release strategies, engineering, fish health, permitting, and environmental impacts all need to be carefully evaluated.
We're not pretending those questions have already been answered.
We're building the team and partnerships needed to answer them.
[LEARN ABOUT THE HATCHERY]
A SANCTUARY WITH A PURPOSE
The Embassy is more than a ship.
We imagine a place where conservation and education happen together.
A place where students can see marine science happening in front of them.
A place where researchers and restoration partners can collaborate.
A place where the public can learn why salmon matter.
And, eventually, a place where appropriate refuge and rehabilitation programs could provide care for cetaceans that need it.
Our vision is ambitious.
That's why we're approaching it in phases.
OUR APPROACH
Start with what we can build.
Orca recovery is a huge challenge. We don't believe one organization can solve it alone.
Our approach is to build partnerships around the pieces that matter:
Salmon + Habitat + Science + Education + Community
We want to work with Tribal communities, scientists, educators, restoration organizations, students, volunteers, marine professionals, and people who simply believe the Salish Sea is worth protecting.
WHERE WE ARE NOW
Orca Embassy SALISH is a developing nonprofit project.
Our proposed sanctuary location is in the Cherry Point / Orca Straits area of the Salish Sea, and we are exploring the possibility of acquiring and repurposing a decommissioned Washington State ferry.
The sanctuary is not yet operational.
The ferry, hatchery, and sanctuary components require additional planning, partnerships, funding, engineering, scientific review, and appropriate regulatory approvals.
That doesn't mean we're waiting.
We're building the foundation now.
We're developing the concept.
We're building relationships.
We're learning.
We're fundraising.
We're looking for people who can help us turn an idea into something real.
YOU CAN HELP BUILD IT
The Embassy needs people before it needs a ship.
Whether you are a scientist, educator, student, marine professional, restoration advocate, builder, artist, volunteer, donor, or simply someone who loves orcas—
there is a place for you in this conversation.
SUPPORT
Help us develop the project and build the resources needed to move forward.
VOLUNTEER
Bring your skills, ideas, time, and energy to the project.
PARTNER
We are looking for organizations, educators, researchers, Tribal partners, and community groups interested in building something together.
FOLLOW THE JOURNEY
The project is evolving. Follow our progress as we work toward the next stage.
THE VISION
We started with a simple belief:
We should not have to choose between caring about the whales in front of us and working toward the healthier ecosystem they need for the future.
We can work on both.
We can restore habitat.
We can support salmon.
We can educate the next generation.
We can explore new conservation tools.
And we can build a place where people come together to do it.
ORCA EMBASSY SALISH
Building a sanctuary at sea.
Building a community around it.
Building a future for the Salish Sea.
Join us
Timeline and Progress
for a running timeline and updates on progress, check out the blog pages
Contact Us
Reach out to learn more about our sanctuary, orcas, and how you can help us.