Whale Tale

For the land-locked and the ocean-going, whales never go out of style. Representatives from Oklahoma's Kirkpatrick Foundation, Save the Illinois River, and the City of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, as well as Washington's SR3 (Sealife Response, Rehabilitation and Research) and the city leaders of Des Moines, Washington, joined forces to announce a new partnership. The Oklahoma Killer Whale Project honors the connection between Oklahoma and Tahlequah, aka J35, and her new calf, Phoenix (J57); the two whales are members of the protected Southern Resident killer whale community. The collaborative effort forms a “Sister Community” to support SR3's Southern Resident health assessment research and connects Oklahoma-based conservationists to the Pacific Northwest.