J Pod welcomes new orca calf

It appears an orca has joined J Pod, with the Center for Whale Research (CWR) saying it’s received reports and photos of a new calf this month.

The CWR shared images of the calf it received on Boxing Day from Puget Sound killer whale researchers Maya and Mark Sears.

It notes “the calf was not with the pod in recent CWR encounters,” nor was it with the other whales when the researchers saw the pod on Dec. 23, “making this calf just a few days old.”

“The calf was primarily observed near adult female J40, who has not yet had a calf, as well as other J pod females,” the CWR said on Dec. 27.

“J40 seems to be the most likely mother, but we’ll try to confirm this in subsequent encounters. The calf’s sex is unknown.”

Southern Resident killer whales are critically endangered. The CWR says there are several factors at play when it comes to what is affecting population numbers, including a lack of food, environmental contaminants, and noise and vessel disturbance.

In September 2023, the centre said it completed its annual census of the Southern Resident killer whale population, noting that as of July 1 of this year, J, K, and L pods were made up of 75 whales, up from the same time the year before, when the total was 73.

“No deaths were recorded in the latest census period,” the CWR added.

“With no births or mortalities, J pod totals 25 individuals. K pod remains at 16 individuals, its lowest number in two decades,” the centre explained. “There were two births in the L12 subgroup: L126 (male, mother L119) and L127 (female, mother L94), upping the L pod census to 34 whales.”

The CWR confirmed in May 2022 that a whale calf spotted months prior in the Salish Sea with J Pod was a female. It added the calf’s gender was good news for her pod, given the population’s growth is limited by the number of reproductively aged females.

“We hope to see lots more of this calf in the coming weeks and months, and that both the calf and its mother will be able to thrive,” the CWR said on Wednesday of the new calf.