Sad news: an orca stranded in South Africa died despite attempts to help her. Researchers examining the dead whale found various plastic and other garbage items in her stomach.
Happy news: another new SRKW calf! This one is once again from J-pod. The mother is J-28 Polaris. She had been looking kind of fat the past few months so she was suspected of being pregnant. She is 22 years old and has one other calf, J-46 Star, born in 2009. It seems these whales have discovered that one trick fertility doctors don't want you to know.
This means that the Scottish Killer Whales could be down to eight. There has not been a birth in the population since studies began of the population. Not good news at all.
Drone footage of Northern and Southern Resident Killer Whales, including footage of a SR nursing her calf and a possible SR pregnancy. Also, photos of a number of NR and their calves:
A killer whale from the West Coast population, Lulu, washed up on shore dead. Researchers determined that entanglement was the likely cause of her death. The West Coast population hasn't produced a calf since 1992, making it likely that the 8 whales left will be the last of this distinctive group. Researchers are hoping that information and samples taken from the necropsy will provide new information about this little-known population, such as pollutants, reproductive status, and age.
An article that details recent observations of "catch sharing" between related Northern Residents. Even a single fish might be shared with a relative, this may be a way of increasing fitness for the whole pod:
It's where all the cool kids gather. I bet it would be very cool to see.
A number of Australian orcas seem to have that interesting eyepatch shape. Is that unique to the region? I'm trying to remember if I've seen it with others.
A Whale Watch operator has been fined and put on probation for feeding wild Killer Whales. She has just gotten even more probation for getting too close to Otters.
A dead Killer Whale has washed up on the west coast of Iceland. This one appears to be a female. This happens once or twice a year according to the article:
Cool! I do love hearing about individual orca populations, it's so interesting how they're all a little (or a lot) different. Personally I hope that there will be more research into tropical populations sometime soon.
J54 is confirmed to be male. Of the eight calves that have been a part of the Southern Resident baby boom, only one has been confirmed to be female. Five, including J54, are confirmed to be male. This is troubling for a struggling population. Researchers believe that toxins in the water are causing the skewed gender ratio.
Also, a dead female orca calf was found near Sooke Point. Researchers will work to determine the ecotype and cause of death. Because of its small size, it's not likely to be a SRKW that we know.
In 1977 an adult male orca grabbed the attention of many when he swam up a river to a city in Ireland. The orca, nicknamed Dopey Dick, has at long last been identified as a whale that's still alive. Turns out he's Comet, a member of the west coast orcas. Because he was an adult male in 1977, that means he's likely around 58 years old. That's crazy!
A dead orca found near Vancouver has been identified as 20 year old SR male L95 "Nigel".
The dead female calf found a few weeks ago has been confirmed as an SRKW. The calf was estimated to be about two weeks old. Researchers have yet to determine the cause of death for either of the whales, though they suspect the calf died due to birthing complications. All terribly sad, though I am glad that at least the bodies washed up so necropsies could be performed.
Finally, J53, one of the newer SR calves has been identified as female. Hopefully she'll reach adulthood and produce some calves, as the population could really use more females right now.
Four orcas got trapped in shallow, icy water in Russia. Several people came to the rescue and worked for hours to get the whales out. There may have been a fifth whale trapped too far away to rescue. The rescue for the four whales was successful.
