A new baby orca born to J Pod is a ray of hope for the endangered southern resident killer whales.
J63 was spotted by Mark Malleson, field biologist for the Center for Whale Research, on April 6. J Pod was traveling west past Victoria Harbor when Malleson noticed the baby with J40 — her first calf.
So far so good for both mother and calf, the center reported. Though the first year of life is particularly perilous for a baby orca.
Every birth counts for the southern residents because only 73 orcas are left in the J, K and L pods, as of the last census of the population by the center in July. To see another female begin producing calves is encouraging, noted Michael Weiss, research director of the Center for Whale Research. “That is one more whale in the actively reproducing column.” J40 will be 21 years old this year, so could have many calves yet ahead of her.
The sex of the new calf is not yet known.
It’s too soon to say how healthy the calf is, but there are no obvious causes for worry, Weiss said. “We will see in the next few weeks, that will tell us how it is filling out.”
Meanwhile, J62, the next most recently born, is looking great. “She has already filled out and looks like a solid calf,” Weiss said. “She looks nice. Pretty nice and fat, and she’s energetic.”
It is unusual to see so many calves while still so young — just days or weeks old — as has been the case in the recent southern resident births, Weiss noted. But that is because the southern residents have been spending more time in Puget Sound. Fecal samples show they are feeding on chum, which is making up about 80% to 90% of their winter diet.
“It is great they have this resource, but they need to have a source of food year round,” Weiss said.
Lack of regularly available, quality salmon, especially Chinook, their favorite, and the largest, fattiest salmon, is one of the leading factors threatening the survival of the southern residents. Underwater noise from container ships, ferries and boats also hinders their efforts to hunt by sound. Pollution contaminates their food.
The population also is significantly inbred, another threat to their health.
A peer-reviewed scientific paper published in 2023 on the genetics of 150 whales, including southern resident, transient (or Bigg’s) killer whales, Alaska resident killer whales and offshore killer whales found the southern residents to be more inbred than the other populations.
Within the southern resident population, the more-inbred whales also had an increased chance of dying compared with the less-inbred whales, according to the study.
That indicates inbreeding is a major limiting factor for the recovery of the southern residents, which remain endangered despite nearly 50 years of conservation efforts, noted Mike Ford, the senior author from the National Marine Fisheries Service on the study.
