Salmon function as a motif of Survival in a Changing Environment. Many species in the Salish Sea’s complex ecosystem also depend upon the fish, such as the eagles, seals, and sea lions that flock to the school of salmon during the climax. The fish are so essential in the orcas’ lives that the protagonist’s extended family is named the Warmward Kinship of Salmon Eaters. The drop in the local Chinook salmon population leads to a host of problems for the whales, including starvation, displacement from their home waters, Capella’s death, and illness: “The hunger sickness is coming for Aquila. It is only days away. If I do not find salmon, I will lose her” (149). Hardships like these help to establish that Vega and her little pod’s battle for survival and their desperate search for salmon are one and the same.

Parry advances the theme of survival further by examining how the salmon themselves are threatened due to changes in their environment. During the novel’s climax, the protagonist realizes how closely her and her family’s lives are bound to the salmon: “They are not my kinship, not my family, and yet everything I love will be lost without them” (162).