“Orca-Salmon celebrationTuesday, July 3, 5-9 p.m. at Freeland HallSilent auction, Soul Salmon display, Penn Cove mussel appetizers, salmon barbecue (or veggie option), beer and wineTickets, $25Proceeds will support the Whidbey-based Orca Conservancy and the Maxwelton Salmon Adventure.Orca Conservancy and the Maxwelton Salmon Adventure will present a gala evening event tonight, July 31, celebrating two of the Northwest’s favorite species: the orca and the salmon. The Orca/Salmon Celebration will focus on the inter-connections between orca and salmon and their habitats, along with the roles they play in the marine life of the Pacific Northwest.The evening will include a silent auction, displays, cocktail hour and salmon barbecue dinner hosted by Dave Anderson and Ralph Munro. Artist, sculptor, and salmon spokesman Tom Jay will be present to share his poetic insights on salmon. To many, salmon are the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest, sustaining 137 species of birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles at one or more stages of the amazing salmon life and death cycle, said the Chums of the Maxwelton Salmon Adventure. Salmon, once so plentiful and prominent in our Northwest waters, are now diminished to the point of being listed as endangered, fighting to survive in degraded habitats and polluted waters.Jay was commissioned by the Soul Salmon project to sculpt 8-foot-long salmon which are being decorated by local artists, writers and other creative spirits in communities throughout Puget Sound. The Maxwelton Salmon Adventure’s Soul Salmon was painted with hundreds of thumbprint-scales by South Whidbey school children. It will be on display at the celebration, together with a Northwest native design-painted salmon from the Olympic Peninsula. Also on the program is Orca researcher Kenneth Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research.Ken has studied and lived among our resident Puget Sound orcas for 26 years, coming to know them as intelligent, compassionate, amazing beings who live in tightly-bonded families, said Susan Berta of the Orca Conservancy. He has observed many cycles of births and deaths in these pods of orcas, but the recent 20 percent population decline over the past six years has him concerned for the survival of these great underwater neighbors. “