It's a baby boom in Orca Country.
Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) crews on Monday reported yet another new calf spotted among the endangered Southern Resident orcas, the population's fourth baby in three months. The birth was confirmed by the Center for Whale Research.
Naturalist/researcher Jeanne Hyde was onboard with Capt. Spencer Domico of Maya's Legacy Whale Watching shortly after noon watching the subgroup J16s with their three-month-old calf J50 off Galiano Island, BC.
"We were assuming we had only the J16s," said Hyde. "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. That's when I told Spencer, 'I think there are two calves!"
PWWA said the crew noted heavy fetal folds on the baby, which indicates that it was newborn.
"J-Pod is certainly doing all it can to rebuild the ranks," said Michael Harris, Executive Director of the PWWA, which represents 29 whale watch operators in Washington and British Columbia. "Let's hope this baby boom means these endangered population has finally turned the corner."
This latest addition would bring the Southern Residents to 81 individuals, with its 82nd member, the L-Pod whale Lolita, now in Miami Seaquarium.
