In recent years, the decline of orca populations has reached an unprecedented rate. With only 73 southern resident killer whales remaining in the wild, this species faces extinction if preventative actions are not taken immediately. One clear cause of stress and starvation in the killer whale population is excessive acoustic and physical disturbance by boats, as well as mass salmon fishing within the Pacific Ocean. The average orca may eat about 500 pounds of food daily, with about 80% of their diet consisting of salmon. The repeated noise disturbances produced by boats -  specifically tankers and tugboats - can obstruct an orca's ability to locate food and can significantly increase its stress levels. Noise from commercial vessels considerably decreases the amount of chinook salmon that killer whales are able to consume by scaring away fish and overfishing the already declining salmon population - contributing to the malnourishment and starvation of southern resident killer whales.

As orcas only produce one baby every 3 to 10 years, deaths greatly outpace births, making population recovery extremely difficult. With only 44 births since 1998, in comparison to the 81 dead or disappeared individuals, southern resident killer whales are approaching extinction at a striking pace. Despite this species receiving special protections under Federal Law after having been listed as endangered in 2005 under the Endangered Species Act and considered depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, it is clear that the current extent of protection that they are being provided by the government is not sufficient. Should this level of prey availability for orcas continue in the near future, current population decline trends predict that orcas will face extinction within the next 10 years.

Considering that the majority of noise pollution stems from commercial and federal vessels, government intervention is absolutely necessary in order to preserve the orca population. With the current policies concerning boat disturbance proving to be ineffective at preventing the decline of the orca population, stricter laws must be instated. To not only conserve the current southern resident killer whales but to encourage future generations to thrive, tanker and tugboat traffic must be significantly reduced. Minimizing boat traffic will not only decrease sound pollution but will ensure that sufficient salmon are present in the ocean for the orcas to consume. Immediate action must be taken to save the orcas from extinction, and decreasing noise disturbances from large boats is the first key step that must be taken.