Orca Conservancy

What it reported doing in 2024

Orca conservancy is working on behalf of orcinus orca, the killer whale, and protecting the wild places on which it depends. Orca conservancy collaborates with some of the worlds top reserach institutions and environmental groups to address the most critical issues now facing wild orcas. Orca conservancy is dedicated to advancing the welfare of orcinus orca, the killer whale, and protecting the wild places on which it depends. Our projects are designed to face the three biggest threats facing the southern resident killer whale population - lack of prey, toxins, and noise. Ongoing initiatives: a. Salmon restoration. Big soos creek 1. Site 1 (covington, wa) 2. Site 2 (kent, wa) orca conservancys goal will be to continue working diligently towards restoring critical salmon habitat within the green-duwamish watershed and to collectively recreate habitats adult salmon are searching for as they travel up local rivers to spawn and potentially become orca food for the critically endangered southern resident killer whale population. B. Hydrophone (ai technology) 1. Vessel noise and disturbance is one of the top three major issues currently impacting the critically endangered southern resident killer whale populations recovery by impairing their ability to echolocate to hunt and find food, and communicate. The salish sea plays host to hundreds if not thousands of vessels a day ranging from ferries, oil tankers, cruise ships, private boats, and more, all of which flood the water with noise. 2. The hydrophones will be connected to ai technology which uses machine learning to detect and identify whale calls and notify a user who will then confirm whether or not the audio is a whale or another sound. Once calls have been detected and confirmed an alert will be sent out immediately to selected parties such as the u.s. Military, local ferries, government enforcement and research agencies, and shipping companies to notify parties of the presence of whales to allow vessels to cease dangerous activities (such as military testing) and slow down or re-route so to keep waters quiet to allow srkws to hunt and reduce any risk of harm. 3. Currently, orca conservancy has a single hydrophone deployed at sunset bay beach camp in edmonds, Washington, and are currently in the process to install two new hydrophones in seattle and in rosario strait (pending location approval and permitting). B. Water temperature and chemistry testing 1. Numerous puget sound basin waterways are on the clean water act 303(d) list of waters impaired for water temperature. 2. These waters require development of management plans to reduce water temperatures while providing data on areas which need restoration and/or viable riparian zones. Therefore, an important component for developing said plans is understanding where waters warm and where waters cool. 3. In addition, habitat features such as riparian vegetation, shade, ground composition, grey infrastructure, and other factors may influence temperature changes, and can be tested for correlations. C. Emergency response 1. Mitigated threats: oil/chemical spills, stranding, and entrapments. 2. To bolster preparedness in the puget sound region, orca conservancy is working with the united states coast guard and federal and state agencies such as wdfw and noaa to train responders on wildlife management and hazing during oil spills. With multiple responders and agencies being trained, this will allow for a larger coverage of a wildlife response in addition to the standard response protocols within a spill event and will aid in mitigating the risk of wildlife being exposed to dangerous chemicals. 3. Orca conservancy has participated and trained employees and scientists in responding to stranding and entrapments, and assists government agencies as needed. 4. Read about the barnes lake response: https://www.orcaconservancy.org/blog/orcas d. Scientific research 1. Chloe kotik, phd student has been working with bay cetology and dfo to con

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 83.1%; rating input score 83
• Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 9th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: Limited
• Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 13.9%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.52; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 71.3%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: Limited
• Revenue growth: 16.7% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings