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New baby killer whale joins pod off Vancouver Island
Whale watchers are celebrating the sight of a new baby whale swimming with one of three endangered pods of killer whales off the coast of Vancouver Island.
The calf was spotted Wednesday by researchers with the Center for Whale Research of Friday Harbour, Wash., and appeared to be only hours old as fetal folds were still visible, said senior staff member Erin Heydenreich.
"They are folded up on their side when they are in the womb and the folds are still visible 24 hours after birth," she said.
The mother, L47, had been seen the previous day without a calf, so the birth apparently took place overnight.
"It is really exciting to see the calf so soon. Everything looks good so far," said Heydenreich.
"This is the sixth calf for L47 and the last three didn't survive. There's no real reason that we know about, but she's 34, so she's approaching the age when she will be post-reproductive," Heydenreich said.
But, for now, the calf appears healthy and is swimming with sisters L83 and L91, she said.
This summer, L Pod has spent much of its time swimming up the west coast of Vancouver Island, instead of the more usual summer stomping grounds off Victoria, possibly because they have found better fishing in that area.
That is making it more difficult to count the number of whales in the pod, but researchers believe two members of L Pod are missing, including the brother of Luna, the whale who was killed by a tugboat propeller two years ago.
The two missing whales are L101, Luna's brother, who was born in 2002, and L21, a grandmother who was born in 1950.
"They're only officially missing," said Heydenreich, which means the count for L Pod will remain at 43 mammals for now.
The 25-whale J Pod had a new baby last year, but none this year "and no one is suspiciously missing from J Pod," Heydenreich said.
K Pod is probably holding steady at 19 whales as a new baby was born earlier this year, but the matriarch, 98-year-old Lummi, is believed to have died.
The Ks have only one breeding-age male, but the whales usually choose mates from outside their pods.
Southern resident populations never recovered from decades of shootings and then captures for aquariums. The main threats they now face are pollution, shrinking salmon runs and marine noise. Whale watchers are celebrating the sight of a new baby whale swimming with one of three endangered pods of killer whales off the coast... more -
Group campaigns for return of penned orca
It was 38 years ago this Friday that life changed forever for the southern resident killer whales.
As members of the three resident orca pods travelled up Puget Sound, explosives were thrown into the water from aircraft and about 100 frantic animals were driven into Penn Cove on Whidbey Island and netted.
At least four whales were killed and about seven others were captured and taken to aquariums.
It was the height of the whale captures between 1965 and 1973, which saw about a dozen whales killed and at least 45 captured from the waters of southern Vancouver Island and Puget Sound.
The population, now listed as endangered with 88 whales in three pods, has never recovered and is now facing the additional threats of pollution and shrinking salmon runs.
The only survivor of the southern resident captures is Lolita, a member of L Pod who, for 38 years, has lived in a cramped tank at Miami Seaquarium.
Each year on Aug. 8, in a grim commemoration at the Captain Whidbey Inn at Penn Cove, the Orca Network holds a ceremony to remember the capture and make yet another plea for Lolita's release.
After an evening of special presentations, there will be a waterside ceremony, said Susan Berta of Orca Network.
"We make a wreath out of cedar and native plants and, at the end of the event, we go and put the wreath in the water," she said.
"Every year we hope it will be the year to welcome home Lolita. We hold on to that."
Earlier this year a group of celebrities became active in trying to get Lolita released, and animal-rights lawyers around Miami are looking for ways to launch a lawsuit.
But Miami Seaquarium has shown no sign of budging, even though Lolita -- now in her early 40's -- is no longer the major star of the shows.
In a statement issued earlier this year, Andrew Hertz, general manager of Miami Seaquarium, said releasing Lolita is not an option and there is no scientific evidence she could survive in the open ocean.
"Lolita will remain at Miami Seaquarium surrounded by people who love and protect her," he said.
Everyone is welcome at the Penn Cove event and the audience includes a core group of people who witnessed the capture, Berta said.
"They feel they need to recognize the horror of it and remember the whales we have lost," Berta said. It was 38 years ago this Friday that life changed forever for the southern resident killer whales. ... more -
K-7, oldest of Southern resident orcas, believed dead
K-7, the oldest orca in the Southern resident pods, is believed dead. She is believed to have been 98 years old and was the matriarch of a line that extended five generations.
The Center for Whale Research, which has monitored the local orca population since 1976, puts the whale population at 88. That's 26 in J pod, 19 in K pod and 43 in L. Research assistant Courtney Smith said the estimated population of L pod is "soft" because L pod has spent most of the season along the west coast of Vancouver Island. "We haven't accurately identified everyone in L pod yet," she said.
As for K-7, "(Researchers) have seen everyone else in K pod except K-7. It's safe to say she's gone," Smith said.
K-7, believed born in 1910, was an important symbol. When she was born — to parents undoubtedly born in the 1800s — the local orca population was possibly over 120. In her lifetime, she survived bullets from fishermen that saw orcas as competition for salmon. She survived the marine park era, in which 50 whales were captured or died during capture. She survived despite depleted salmon stocks and increased marine pollution.
The population rebounded from 71 in 1973 to 99 in 1995, then plummeted to 79 six years later. The population rebounded to 80 in 2002, 83 in 2003, 85 in 2004 and 89 in 2005, but has seesawed around 88 since then. The local pods were declared endangered by the U.S. and Canada by 2005 and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has been patrolling the area to enforce rules requiring boats to maintain a distance of 100 yards from the whales.
The Center for Whale Research says the whales' biggest threats are pollution in Puget Sound and declines in salmon. The center says the Navy may also share the blame.
"The whale population decline is coincident with the deployment of (Destroyer Squadron) 9 to Everett in 1995,” the center's Web site states. "The destroyer squadron's exercise area is nominally off the Olympic Peninsula but has included Strait of Juan de Fuca and Haro Strait.”
The whales are called Southern residents because they spend a lot of the year in this region. J is here much of the year, while K and L travel as far as California but return in the summer.
When the pods return to the San Juan Islands in early summer, the Center for Whale Research gets their first good look at who is present, including any new calves, as well as who may not have made it through the winter.
“These orcas are icons and indicators of the quality of Puget Sound and coastal waters," center director Ken Balcomb said in an earlier interview. "How they fare in coming years will tell us a lot about our own fate.”
With K-7's death, the oldest Southern resident orca is J-2, also known as Granny, believed born in 1911. The matriarch of L pod is L-25, also known as Ocean Sun, born in 1928.
K-7 descendants include a daughter, K-11, believed born in 1933; a granddaughter, K-13; four great-grandchildren, K-20, K-25, K-27 and K-34; and a great-great-grandchild, K-38. K-7, the oldest orca in the Southern resident pods, is believed dead. She is believed to have been 98 years old and was the matriarch ... more -
Get down! Orcas on the attack
The park ranger gestured forcefully, ordering me to throw myself down on the sand and stay quiet.
Some sea lion pups paddled tentatively in the shallow surf, learning to swim at Punta Norte beach in eastern Patagonia, and we were staring at the sea, watching for a huge black fin. The park ranger gestured forcefully, ordering me to throw myself down on the sand and stay quiet. ... more
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