Slide background

Protecting Orca by Restoring Salmon

orca.calfBy Paige Cornwell  /  March 31, 2015

Whale-watching crews spotted a new baby orca in the Salish Sea on Monday, marking the fourth documented southern-resident killer-whale birth in three months. Whale-watching crews spotted a new baby orca in the Salish Sea on Monday, marking the fourth documented southern-resident killer-whale birth in three months.

The calf was spotted among the J-pod near Galiano Island, B.C., about noon, according to the Pacific Whale Watch Association.

Researchers spotted the calf while watching the subgroup known as the J16s with its 3-month-old calf, known as J50, according to the association, which represents 29 whale-watch operators in Washington and British Columbia.

“We were assuming we had only the J16s,” naturalist and researcher Jeanne Hyde said in a news release. “And as they passed in front of the boat, I saw a small calf surfacing next to J16 and said ‘there’s the baby.’ But then J50 surfaced behind all the rest.”

The calf has heavy fetal folds, indicating that he or she is a newborn.

The birth brings the endangered killer-whale population to 81. A female calf in the J-pod was spotted in late December and a second calf was spotted in early February.

The third calf, in the L-pod, was observed a few weeks later.

Monday’s sighting hasn’t yet been confirmed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/orca-baby-boom-continues-with-discovery-of-fourth-calf/

Share This