Re: “Tahlequah carrying her dead orca calf, just as she did in 2018 for 1,000 miles” (Jan. 1, Northwest):
“Bright extinction” is the term used to describe an extinction happening when the causes of the extinction are known and the solutions are known, but the solutions are not being enacted.
There could not be a more poignant example of “bright extinction” than the orca mother Tahlequah carrying her dead calf through the waters of the Salish Sea.
The science is clear: The Chinook salmon on which the southern resident orcas rely are nearly extinct because of the existence of the four Lower Snake River Dams. The orcas are starving, and they burn their fat (laced with toxins from Pacific Northwest industries) to survive. The toxins then sicken the whales and their offspring.
The extinction of the salmon and orcas would be catastrophic to fishing and tourism. It would also violate the Endangered Species Act and the treaties in which the U.S. guarantees the Northwest tribes the right to harvest fish in accustomed places and numbers.
Tahlequah is telling us that time is up. Those who oppose breaching the four Lower Snake River Dams are supporting cultural erasure and the destruction of a habitat unique in the world.
This extinction is so bright, it brings tears to my eyes.
Marjorie Millner, Vancouver