Save orcas from greedy cruise corporations!

Southern Resident Killer Whales live in tight-knit family groups called pods. These social animals rely on others in their pod and are disproportionately impacted by the death of even one family member. Now, two of these pods are left grieving the deaths of fellow orcas Cappuccino and Marina.

Cruise giants are making orcas fight even harder to survive. Their ships dump harmful pollution into sensitive orca habitat and disrupt their echolocation. I’m counting on you to stop the cruise industry from wiping out the remaining 73 orcas.

Dear Member of Congress,

Over the years, cruise companies have polluted our air, water, and climate — much of this pollution is legal, but cruise companies are also responsible for significant illegal pollution. Last year, the cruise industry was thrust into the spotlight for knowingly putting public health at risk from COVID-19. Thousands of people contracted the virus while on cruise ships and hundreds died. The cruise industry has repeatedly made choices that put the health of people and the planet at risk.

Southern Resident Killer Whales are at serious risk. The cruise industry is dumping its exhaust gas scrubber wastewater into the marine waters where orcas live. This practice is exacerbating the threats to this iconic species. The Southern Resident Killer Whales are sounding the alarm bells; only one in three survive birth. They are starving due to the lack of salmon. They are stressed and hungry, and the cruise industry is only making matters worse.

Scrubbers were supposed to be one of the solutions to clean up the cruise industry’s dirty smokestacks. Instead, these scrubbers merely convert the industry’s dirty air pollution into toxic water pollution. The significant majority of scrubbers used by the cruise industry are open-loop and emit acidic wastewater that is warmer than ambient seawater and contains heavy metals, PAHs, particulate matter, and nitrates, all of which are very harmful to the marine environment and the marine creatures that inhabit it. All of our oceans are at risk from the cruise industry’s polluting emissions and they need to stop immediately.

The world’s largest cruise company — Carnival Corporation — has been on criminal probation for the last four years as part of a record-setting $40 million fine and plea agreement for illegally dumping oily waste into the ocean for nearly a decade, as well as obstruction of justice for hiding its criminal activities from regulators. Carnival was allowed to restart cruising in the US this year despite its continued and ongoing pollution during its probation. Without this prosecution, we would likely have no knowledge of Carnival’s ongoing environmental crimes. In order to properly monitor and enforce environmental and public health laws on cruise ships, we need independent federal observers for all large cruise ships in the US.

I am calling on you to protect public health and the environment. Please commit to addressing the negative impacts the cruise industry has on passengers, crew, communities, oceans, and marine wildlife through improved and increased regulation and oversight of the industry.

Sincerely,
{user_data~First name} {user_data~Last name}
{user_data~City}, {user_data~State} {user_data~Postcode}

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