Saving Orcas and Saving Lives
Peter Burns III
Peter J. Burns III Serial Start-up Entrepreneur, CEO of Burns Funding, and Forbes Columnist
Peter J. Burns, III Weekly Digest
Saving Orcas and Saving Lives
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Peter J. Burns’s Orca Project
The Majestic Orca
As oxygen-breathing mammals, we humans often gaze with awe and wonder at the magical sights of marine mammals frolicking freely in our oceans. Tourists in coastal cities pay great amounts for dolphin and whale watching tours in hopes of catching even a glimpse of these magnificent creatures of the sea. In the case of Orca whales, their grace and beauty is only matched by their power and size.
The Orca Decline
Yet, these majestic animals are already starving in Puget Sound, where 3 orcas are presumed dead and pods are shrinking in numbers. In another top story off the coast of Canada, a mother orca carried her dead calf for 10 days, as our nation watched in wonder and concern. What is becoming of one of the ocean’s most valuable creatures?
A Humanitarian Solution
Peter J. Burns, III, lifelong entrepreneur, is taking this concern and developing a solution to the problem of endangered orcas. And it all started when he noticed an alarming increase in the number of shark attacks in coastal areas. In researching causes, he found that the shark’s Apex predator- the killer whale- has been forced to forge for food in deeper waters, thus, bringing more sharks into shallower waters where they encounter humans.
In researching orcas’ sounds, behaviors and patterns, we can learn more about these endangered species and take steps in the right direction. For example, we know that Orca’s produce audible screams and Burns believes these can be replicated with new technology and placed in key locations under water to deter great whites from hunting in shallow areas near the coast. Imagine that. Just the sound of their worst enemy, their Apex predator, is enough to scare them away!
Orca’s sounds are one thing, but sometimes researchers have to get “down and dirty” and studying Orca’s feces is one other way marine biologists are able to get answers about their eating habits, how hungry they are, where they’re migrating to, their birthing habits and why they are declining, among other insights.
Where more awareness and understanding is brought to any worthwhile issue, more solutions can arise. The Orca Project’s mission is two-fold:
- Human lives will be saved as sharks move farther from coastlines.
- The endangered Orca whale will thrive again as more understanding contributes to more conservation.
As Burns points out, “This pioneering idea will allow both humans and marine life to benefit via a green solution.”
Photo by Bart van meele on Unsplash
If you wish to support the Orca Project, please click on the link below.
Peter J. Burns III
by L. A. Rawleigh on December 31
Sources:
Knobblauch, J.A. (2019, Aug 14). Puget Sound Orcas are Dying- Latest Sign of Nature’s
Decline EarthJustice Retrieved from https://earthjustice.org/blog/2018-august/orcas-dying-puget-sound-endangered-species-salmon
Simon, D (2018, Aug 13). Tour of Grief is Over for Killer Whale No Longer Carrying Dead Calf
https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/12/us/orca-whale-not-carrying-dead-baby-trnd/index.html
Rigney, E. (2019, July 16). Orcas Eat Great White Sharks. National Geographic. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/07/killer-whales-orcas-eat-great-white-sharks/
The Evergrey Creative Studio (2019, Mar 26). In Puget Sound, Studying Poop to Save the Orca Whales Retrieved from: https://theevergrey.com/sam-wasser-studies-poop-to-save-orcas/