The fish-eating whales typically spend summers in inland waters of Washington state and winters foraging along the coast. Most inland waters of Washington state, including Puget Sound and the waters around the San Juan Islands, received protection as critical whale habitat in 2006. In 2014, the conservation group petitioned the fisheries service to expand habitat protection. The fisheries service said in 2015 that it would move ahead with revising the orcas' critical habitat and collecting and analyzing more data to develop a rule in 2017. He said the agency has been gathering data, including tracking the whales' winter movements and reviewing the science.

Source: ABC News June 07, 2018 00:19 UTC