HOW TO HELP

ACS Puget Sound Chapter

There are lots of ways to help whales and dolphins. We believe the most effective way to protect cetaceans is by educating the public about these remarkable animals and the problems they face in their increasingly threatened habitats.

ACS Puget Sound seeks to educate through its publications, guest lectures, teaching aids, and group activities.

• if you can make a little time - participate in these activities and/or help with the less-interesting but necessary business support - either email us or come to a speaker series event and meet us.
  
  
• if you have a little money - become a member, help support research grants, or our Vashon Hydrophone project.
  
  
• your lifestyle can make it easier or harder for whales and dolphins to survive and thrive...

Whale Friendly Lawns: Campaign for Clean Waters

Every time it rains, chemicals wash off our lawns and driveways, into the stormwater drains and into local rivers and streams.

Chemicals can harm birds and fish, and fertilizers promote the growth of algae that choke streams and rob fish of valuable oxygen.

This growth restricts the abilities of salmon and other prey fish to reproduce, and ultimately the whales that live in this area will not have the food sources available to keep them alive and thriving.

You can make a difference! As an environmentally-friendly home owner, you can help by pledging to limit the use of toxic chemicals and dangerous herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers, in your lawn and garden.

Join the Whale Friendly Lawns campaign and receive great tips on environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional chemicals and fertilizers. You can share this information with your friends and neighbors and educate them about the vibrant connection between lawns, the surrounding rivers and streams, and the wonderful whales, salmon and other marine wildlife species inhabiting Earth's waters.

Read the 2006 Puget Sound Georgia Basin Ecosystem Indicators Report, created via a partnership between the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Canadian Government. This report is composed of nine environmental indicators specific to this ecosystem:

• Population Health,
• Urbanization and Forest Change,
• Solid Waste and Recycling,
• River, Stream and Lake Quality,
• Shellfish,
• Air Quality,
• Marine Species at Risk,
• Toxics in Harbor Seals, and
• Marine Water Quality.

The EPA's online report also contains many links and references that help navigate priority work on both sides of the border. Each indicator is structured around essential questions like

• "What is Happening?"
• "How Does This Affect Me?" and
• "What Can I Do?"

For more information about the Puget Sound Chapter of the American Cetacean Society, contact us at .