Days-old orca whale calf spotted swimming amongst pod in Strait of Georgia

The Center for Whale Research (CWR) has exciting news — a new orca calf has been spotted in L pod.

Researchers were observing the L and K pods over the weekend when a calf was spotted, CWR Research Director Dr. Michael Weiss reported Monday through the organization’s website.

Weiss stated CWR team members were observing the main L pod, along with the K pod in the Strait of Georgia Friday. Sealife Response, Rehabilitation and Research (SR3) saw orcas in the L pod, along with Js and Ks heading south Saturday.

Then on Sunday morning, CWR reported Southern Resident killer whales were seen off Sooke, less than an hour from Victoria, British Columbia, heading west. However, after getting reports of the group’s direction, CWR was told that L90 and her new calf L128 were still in the area and were seen along the west side of San Juan Island.

Weiss said he and his team, along with their colleagues at SR3 headed out on the water. However, the team did not see any other whales near L90 and L128.

“Given this, we felt it was important to make every effort to observe the mother and calf again today,” Weiss stated. “We were fortunate to find them again in Haro Strait and still on their own.”

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He said the team got both distant Orca Survey photos and aerial observation footage.

Weiss added that SR3 will release data on the calf and mother’s conditions. He said the calf is “VERY new” and, considering whale sizes, is very tiny. The new whale also has clear fetal folds. The CWR guessed the calf was born recently, within the last three days and can also confirm it is nursing and moving normally.

“We will continue monitoring mother and the calf while they are in the area,” Weiss wrote.

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Looking at the Southern Resident killer whale population

The CWR completed its annual census of the Southern Resident killer whale population and announced its findings at the beginning of the year. As of Jan. 1, the official Southern Resident killer whale population in J, K, and L pods is 75.

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The CWR confirmed the whale population gained three animals (L126, L127, and J60) and lost one (K34) in 2023. However, J60 has not been observed during J pod encounters since Jan. 7 and is considered deceased. Given this development, the CWR reports the Southern Resident population actually stands at 74.

“Given the young whale’s age, it was extremely unlikely J60 was off on his own for the duration of the encounter. While our protocols require at least three full censuses of the group to confirm mortality, we now believe that J60 is likely deceased,” the whale center wrote at the beginning of the year.

Regarding the L pod whales, the CWR confirmed in July 2023 L pod members L 119 and L 94 each gave birth to a calf. At the time, the two calves were “very active and social” and neither showed any immediate signs of illness or abnormality.

L 119’s calf is named L 126 and L 94’s is L 127. L 126 is L 119’s first calf, while L127 is L94’s third.

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“I mean, every single addition we can get to this population is huge,” Weiss said to KIRO Newsradio at that time.

These were the first calves born in L pod since 2021. These are also the first calves born in the L12 subgroup since 2018.

Contributing: Steve Coogan, MyNorthwest; Heather Bosch, KIRO Newsradio

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X here and email her here.