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Orca rescue
Building public understanding and a thoughtful pathway toward future sanctuary development.
Orca Embassy Salish · Founding Crew
What if a ferry could save a whale?
A retired Washington State ferry could become Orca Embassy Salish: a proposed floating home base for ocean restoration, research, salmon enhancement, and a future sanctuary vision.
This isn’t a ferry project. It’s a rescue plan.
Concept only · a future-facing vision
One ferry.
One ocean.
One big idea.
The reason
Orcas don’t have a place to go.
Southern Resident orcas are navigating a changing ecosystem shaped by declining salmon, pollution, vessel disturbance, and habitat degradation. Their future is tied to the health of the entire Salish Sea.
And for captive orcas, there is still no established coastal retirement destination in North America. Orca Embassy is a proposal to help create a thoughtful, science-led pathway toward that future—not a claim that a sanctuary already exists.
We believe there should be.
The big idea
Why build everything from scratch?
What if we repurposed something that already exists? A decommissioned Washington State ferry could be explored as a proposed floating hub for conservation, research, salmon enhancement, education, and future sanctuary development—rather than being sent to the scrapyard.
It’s not about pretending the answer is already built. It’s about creating space to build the right next steps together.
One platform · many missions
What the Embassy is here for.
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Ocean restoration
Supporting a healthier Salish Sea through research, education, and restoration-focused work.
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Salmon enhancement
Exploring practical research and partnership opportunities for the food web orcas depend on.
The platform
The ferry isn’t the end goal.
It’s the start.
A ferry could provide something conservation projects desperately need: space. Space to work, learn, test ideas, build trust, and bring people together around the water that connects us.
Researchers and working teams
Conservation equipment
Education and learning space
Aquaculture and salmon research
Partnership-building and convening
And eventually: a path toward a future sanctuary proposal for orcas who need one.
The horizon
Imagine this.
A retired ferry anchored in the Salish Sea. Researchers at work aboard. Students learning from the ecosystem. Communities gathering around restoration. Scientists studying the water. Salmon enhancement taking shape. And offshore, a protected pathway toward a real future coastal sanctuary.
That’s the vision.
The first step
Give $5.
Become part of the crew.
The first step isn’t buying a ferry. It’s proving that people believe this is worth building. Five dollars doesn’t purchase a ferry—it adds one more person to the signal that this idea deserves a real chance.
Founding Crew launch
$5
A small gift. A visible vote of confidence.
Checkout is not available yet. Join the interest list and we’ll let you know when the platform-hosted Founding Crew checkout is ready.
Join the interest list$5 checkout opening soon · no payment collected here
Share the story
The #OrcaEmbassy Challenge
Give $5 when the launch opens. Take a screenshot. Post it. Then invite three ocean-loving people to help turn one improbable idea into a movement.
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Give $5
Join the Founding Crew when the launch checkout opens.
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Take a screenshot
Save your crew moment and make the idea visible.
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Post + tag 3
Invite three people who love the ocean to come aboard.
“Would you help build an embassy for orcas?”
TikTok · Instagram · Facebook · Threads · YouTube
The promise
We’ll show you where we go.
The planning
The science
The fundraising
The partnerships
The setbacks
The breakthroughs
And eventually…
The ferry
You won’t just donate to the story. You’ll be able to watch it take shape—honestly, step by step.
Come aboard
Everyone has a place aboard.
This is for everyone who has ever looked at an orca and thought, “We can do better.” We welcome interest and dialogue from people across the Salish Sea and beyond; these communities are not presented as project endorsements or existing partners.
ScientistsFishersTribal communitiesConservationistsTeachersStudentsFamiliesOcean supporters
Help us get started.
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Give
Join the interest list for the $5 Founding Crew launch.
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Share
Tell three people who care about the ocean.
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Follow
Watch the project develop, step by step.
The ferry is only the beginning.