The first Orca calf of 2010!
January 4, 2010 by admin
Filed under Recent Posts
I had the distinct privilege of volunteering for both Brad Hanson and Candice Emmons (Killer Whale Tales Board Member) yesterday as they headed out to meet up with J Pod here in south Puget Sound. Both are currently working on collecting both scale samples and fecal samples from the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale population. Conditions were rough, but not to rough to confirm that J35, a 12 year old, had given birth sometime recently to a brand new baby, J47! First spotted by Mark Sears, this marks the first new orca calf born in 2010 and the first time that an orca that young had given birth in this wild population. It also marks another first in that both of J35’s direct family members, her mom J17 and her sister J28 also gave birth within in the last year as well.
Check back for more information!
I am including two photos below of the new calf, both taken under NOAA permit #781182400.
