Local pod populations now number just 83, their lowest level since 2003.

More money for enforcement, education, research, oil-spill prevention and – more specifically – the Soundwatch program.

If the Washington state agency tasked with cleaning up Puget Sound can deliver a boost in funding for the local killer whales, then islanders and some local orca experts believe those steps might help the Southern residents bounce back from the recent loss of seven animals and could benefit the troubled population over the long run.

The latest loss, which pushes the collective population of J, K and L pods down to 83, its lowest total since 2003, grabbed center stage last week during a two-day meeting of the Puget Sound Partnership in Friday Harbor. At the Partnership’s request, nearly a dozen federal, state, tribal and local scientists huddled at the U.W. Friday Harbor Labs on Nov. 18 for a 90-minute discussion into the reasons behind the die-off and possible solutions that might prevent the population’s further decline.

At the conclusion, islanders and several local experts weighed in as well.

Mark Anderson of Orca Relief said greater restrictions should be put in place to lessen the harassment and noise endured by the orcas from the number of boats they constantly attract. Such distractions only complicate the foraging ability of the killer whales, which, he said, are having greater difficulty finding food.

Shann Weston, a member of WSU Beachwatchers, recalls seeing plenty of boats but little enforcement off the west side of San Juan Island this season.

Bill Wright of San Juan Safaris, a commercial whale-watch company, said the Friday Harbor Whale Museum’s Soundwatch program has proven over the years to maintain the most effective balance of protection and adoration of the orcas out on the water.

Just how much money the Partnership will able to wield beginning next year remains to be seen. The agency recently unveiled an ambitious — though preliminary — action agenda, a roadmap for improving the health of the Sound by 2020, at a time when lawmakers in Olympia will face a $5 billion shortfall in crafting the next two-year state budget. It’s expected to ask for $200 million to $300 million in the state’s 2009-11 biennium budget to get the agenda off the ground. That would be in addition to the $285 million the state spends annually on cleanup projects.

The action agenda will be finalized later this month and presented to lawmakers by Dec. 1.

David Dicks, executive director of the partnership, said that consensus on potential solutions could help the agency “get ahead of the curve and work it into the action agenda”, if the panel could come up with “something everyone can get behind.”

But agreement among the panel on the causes of the latest decline or preventive measures the Partnership might pursue proved elusive.

Dwindling salmon runs, the Southern residents’ primary food source, has been cited as a leading cause for the population’s decline.

The Southern residents and nearly a dozen Puget Sound salmon species are listed as “threatened” by extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Several panel members noted recovery plans are in motion and numerous efforts already underway to help restore salmon runs and the killer whale population because of those listings.

Biologist Kit Rawson of the Tulalip tribe, also chairman of the San Juan County Marine Resources Committee, said research suggests that prey abundance, Chinook in particular, and mortality patterns of the Southern residents are not in synch. He advocates letting the recovery plans deliver results rather than formulating another new plan of attack.

“There’s something else going on here,” Rawson said. “Let’s reach those recovery goals and see where we are then.”

Toxins and pollution have also been cited as a threat to the killer whales’ survival. Though recovery of a killer whale carcass is rare, studies show that orcas carry one of the highest loads of toxins of any marine mammal, and that newborns often bear the brunt.

University of Washington biologist Dr. David Bain said better tools and more monitoring are needed to understand the impacts pollutants have on killer whales, and to prevent or combat an outbreak of a disease.

National Marine Fisheries Service biologist Brad Hanson noted three killer whales that went missing were less than a year old.

The mortality rate of newborn orcas in the wild is 50 percent. With three newborns in the mix, he said the recent loss might not have been as significant had it not included two females of reproductive age. But that’s an added blow for a population struggling to survive, he said.

“The big concern is we’re not seeing the full maximization of the reproductive capability of the population,” Hanson said.