Conservation and management concern for the endangered Southern Resident killer whale (SRKW) population has elevated over the past decade.  Despite dedicated recovery efforts, the population has failed to exhibit signs of growth and the reproductive success of the SRKW continues to decline. Understanding factors affecting the survival and fecundity of this population are key for informing effective management actions. Health assessment in wild whales is particularly challenging, but recent insights from preliminary data on the cetacean fecal microbiome suggest an avenue worth exploring.  Since the gut microbiome is intimately linked to host immunity, and fecal samples are relatively easy to collect, the fecal microbiota represents an opportune target for assessing health and disease in wild killer whales. Currently, little is known about the temporal stability and normal variation in the killer whale gut microbiome. We seek a candidate to explore the longitudinal patterns of fecal microbiome diversity among killer whales and identify microbial taxa of interest.