Four orca deaths and two births over the past year brings the
official population of southern resident killer whales to 73 — the
lowest number since the annual census was launched in 1976.
L-84, a 29-year-old male named
Nyssa, is among three southern resident orcas newly listed as
deceased. Here he is seen catching a salmon. // Photo:
Center for Whale Research
This evening, the keeper of the census — Ken Balcomb of the
Center for Whale Research — sadly announced the deaths of three
orcas who have not been seen for several months.
In past years, Ken waited until he and his staff have several
opportunities to search for any whales that appear to be missing.
But this year the whales have stayed almost entirely away from
their traditional hunting grounds in the San Juan Islands, where
they once stayed for nearly the full summer.
In an unusual move this year, Ken relied on reliable observers
from the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans as well as
other biologists along the west coast of Vancouver Island. The
missing whales were not seen during multiple encounters with the
Canadians, Ken told me.
The reason the whales have not spent any time in Puget Sound is
fairly obvious, Ken said. Their primary prey, chinook salmon, have
not been around either.
When is a medical intervention appropriate for a sick or ailing
killer whale?
It’s a complicated question, as I learned by interviewing a
variety of experts in a two-part series just published in the
Encyclopedia
of Puget Sound.
One aspect of the story that I found interesting was how a
simple tree branch helped to make a connection between humans and a
lonely orca named Springer. If you have read my story, you might be
interested in how the stick played an ongoing role after the
rescue.
Killer whale observers were gleefully surprised this week when
all three pods of Southern Resident orcas came into the Salish Sea
— and all were in reasonably good shape.
K-25, a 26-year-old male orca
named Scoter, is seen breaching Monday when a large group of
Southern Residents arrived in the Salish Sea.
Photo: Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale
Research
Remember, these same whales have been missing from Puget Sound
for practically the entire summer — a period when they
traditionally remain in and around the San Juan Islands while
feasting on salmon. This summer has generated concern among those
who understand the ways of whales. Some observers have feared that
the orcas, wherever they were, might not be getting enough to eat
(Water
Ways, Aug. 18).
That fear has largely disappeared, said Ken Balcomb, director of
the Center for Whale Research who has been studying these animals
for more than 40 years.
“There were no fat whales among them,” Ken told me, “but they
had to be finding something (to eat) out there.”
Ken’s only concern was with a couple of young calves, 2 and 3
years old. They remain small for their age. (Ken calls them
“runts.”) They probably have not received complete nutrition, given
that the whales don’t seem to be finding chinook salmon in their
regular feeding grounds.
“We know that there is a problem with juvenile and infant
survival,” Ken said, but there is hope that these calves will make
it.
Before they entered the Salish Sea this week, the three pods
must have met up in the Strait of Juan de Fuca if not the Pacific
Ocean, as all were together when they were spotted Monday morning
near the south end of Vancouver Island by whale observer Mark
Malleson.
The Center for Whale Research sent out two boats. Ken and Gail
Richard boarded the Shachi and met up with the leading group of
orcas just east of Secretary Island. Ahead of the pack was J-19, a
female orca named Shachi, who appears to have taken over the
leadership role from Granny, or J-2, the elder matriarch that led J
pod for decades before her death.
Read Ken’s full report of the encounter on the Center for Whale Research
website. For some observations about Granny, check out these
Water Ways reports:
On Monday, J-pod whales were clustered in their family groups
along the Vancouver Island shoreline, while those in K pod were
farther offshore and trailing J pod, according to Ken’s report. Not
all of L pod was there, but those in the area were spending time in
their family groups, or matrilines, even farther behind and farther
offshore.
Some of the whales were sprinting into tidal waters to catch
salmon close to shore on the incoming tide of Monday afternoon, Ken
said.
“The salmon tend to move into the Salish Sea with the flood
tides and hang back in nearshore eddies and bays in ebb tides,” Ken
wrote in his report, “so the whales foraging and traveling east
suggested that there were at last sufficient numbers of salmon to
bring them all of the way in.”
As the whales captured fish, their social interactions with each
other increased, at least among the family groups, Ken told me.
Meanwhile, the second boat from the Center for Whale Research,
Orcinus with Dave Ellifrit and Melisa Pinnow aboard, met up with
the whales just west of Discovery Island east of Victoria. After a
breakaway by the Shachi crew to transfer photos from Mark
Mallinson, both boats continued to follow the whales until sunset.
At dusk, the entourage ended up right in front of the center’s
shoreline base on San Juan Island.
Spurred on by this rare (for this year) sighting of all three
pods, the five photographers in the three boats shot more than
3,500 photos in one day, Ken reported. Some of the best portraits and ID photos
are shown with notes of the encounter. Other photos and expressions
of excitement can be seen on Orca Network’s
Whale Sighting Report.
The researchers reported that all the whales in J and K pods
were present — except for K-13, who had been reported missing
(Water
Ways, Aug. 18). Of the 35 orcas in L pod, 22 were seen on
Monday. The missing whales are not a concern, Ken said, because the
13 not spotted were all members of matrilines that apparently were
somewhere else.
“It is not unprecedented for L pod matrilines to be very widely
separated at times — e.g., part of the pod in Puget Sound while
others are off California!” Ken noted in his report. “All of the
whales today appeared to be frisky and in good condition, though we
clearly have a few runts in the youngest cohort of whales –
probably having been in perinatal nutritional distress due to
recent poor salmon years in the Salish Sea.”
The next day, Tuesday, the whales were spread out in small
groups in Georgia Strait on the Canadian side of the border.
Yesterday, they traveled back through Haro Strait in the San Juan
Islands, then headed on west toward the Pacific Ocean. It will be
interesting to see what happens next, as these fish-eating orcas
continue to hunt for chinook salmon and then switch this fall to
chum salmon when the chinook grow scarce.
The Center for Whale Research’s efforts to keep track of the
Southern Residents is funded in part by the federal government, but
the center’s other work involving orcas depends on donations and
memberships. Go to “Take Action for Orcas”
for information.
Transient killer whales are gallivanting around Puget Sound like
they own the place — and maybe they do.
For decades, transients were not well known to most observers in
the Salish Sea. But now these marine-mammal-eating orcas are even
more common than our familiar Southern Residents, the J, K and L
pods. In fact, transients are becoming so prevalent that it is hard
to keep track of them all. Some observers say up to 10 different
groups of transients could be swimming around somewhere in Puget
Sound at any given time.
“This is nuts!” exclaimed Susan Berta of Orca Network, a nonprofit
organization that keeps track of whale sightings. “This is more
than we have ever seen!
“Alisa Lemire Brooks coordinates our sighting networks,” Susan
told me. “She is going nuts trying to keep track of them. It has
been so confusing. They mix and merge and split up again.” (See
also Orca Network’s
Facebook page.)
This video by Alisa Lemire Brooks shows a group of
transients taking a California sea lion at Richmond Beach in
Shoreline, King County, on Monday. Much of the close-up action
begins at 6:30.
If you’ve followed the news of the J, K and L pods and you think
you know something about killer whales, you may need to refine your
thinking when talking about transients. In fact, some researchers
contend that the physical, behavioral and genetic differences
between transients and residents are so great that the two kinds of
orcas should be considered separate species.
It has been hard to take the news that J-28, a 23-year-old
female killer whale named Polaris, is now missing and presumed dead
— even though I knew this news has been coming since August. It now
appears likely that her 11-month-old son J-54, named Dipper, will
not survive either.
On Oct. 2, J-28, named Polaris,
was photographed with an indentation behind her blow hole, a
condition known as “peanut head” and related to malnutrition. Her
11-month-old son, shown with her, also was struggling to survive.
Polaris has now been confirmed as dead, and researchers say her son
is probably dead as well.
Photo: Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale
Research
I sadly reported on Polaris’ “super-gaunt” condition in
Water Ways (Aug. 24) after talking to Ken Balcomb of the Center
for Whale Research. Until recently, various whale-watching folks,
including CWR researchers, have reported that Polaris was still
alive. She was generally seen moving slowly and in poor shape, but
at times she seemed to have more energy, raising hopes that she
might recover. But the last sighting of Polaris was Oct. 19 in the
Strait of Juan de Fuca.
During a press conference Friday, Ken announced the death of
Polaris, as he spoke out to raise awareness about the plight of
Puget Sound orcas.
Ken said Dipper’s sister and aunt were attempting to care for
the young orphan, but no other lactating females have moved in to
provide milk, so he likely will die if he is not already dead.
Ken read a personally penned obituary for Polaris, noting
that she was popular with whale watchers, in part because she was
easily identified by a nick in her dorsal fin. She acquired the
distinctive mark when she was nine years old.
At the press conference, Ken talked about the most concerning
problem facing the orcas: a shortage of chinook salmon, their
primary prey. The food shortage is exacerbated when the whales burn
fats stored in their blubber, causing the release of toxic
chemicals from their blubber into their bloodstream. Chemicals can
affect the immune and reproductive systems, as well as other
hormonal systems.
Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research has confirmed that
Paul Pudwell of Sooke
Whale Watching located the five missing killer whales that have
not been seen in U.S. waters this year. The whales were spotted
July 15 off Sooke, B.C., which is west of Victoria on Vancouver
Island.
L-54 near Sooke, B.C., last
week
Photo: Paul Pudwell
Paul was able to get pictures of all five whales suitable for
identification by Ken and company.
By my reckoning, this should account for all the Southern
Residents. While four new orca babies are thriving, we have had
just one death to mourn over the past year. That brings the
population to 82, up from 79 last year at this time. That number
includes Lolita, a Southern Resident being kept at Miami
Seaquarium. For a full accounting of the population, see
Water Ways, July 1 and
Water Ways, July 7.
Thanks to a baby photo from Jane Cogan, the newest killer whale
in J pod has been identified as a girl, according to Ken Balcomb of
the Center for Whale Research.
The baby killer whale, J-50,
reveals that she is a girl as she swims with her family in British
Columbia.
Photo by Jane Cogan, courtesy of Center for Whale
Research
We still don’t know whether the mother is 42-year-old J-16,
known as Slick, or Slick’s 16-year-old daughter J-36, known as
Alki. At moment, the family group, which consists of J-16, her
three offspring plus the new calf, are sticking close together.
“It may take a little time for us to sort it out,” Ken told me,
but the mother should become apparent within a few weeks, if not
sooner, because the calf must be getting milk from the mom. From
all indications, the little one is doing fine.
Initially, the calf was thought to be the offspring of J-16,
because J-36 was some distance away. But now it seems just as
likely that J-16 was babysitting while J-36 got some rest, Ken told
me.
Yesterday, Jane and Tom Cogan of San Juan Island took an
overnight trip up north into British Columbia, where J pod has been
swimming near Texada Island since the beginning of the new year.
Jane sent back a good photograph of the baby’s underneath side.
According to Ken, it is not unusual for mothers to roll their
babies near the surface of the water.
Female killer whales have a more rounded pattern in the genital
area, while males have a more elongated pattern of coloration. A
good photo is all it takes to tell a boy from a girl. For
comparison, see Questions &
Answers at Center for Whale Research website.
I talked to Tom briefly this afternoon. He told me that J-50 was
acting playful at times, like young whales will do, with some tail
slapping and porpoising.
“I would say it looked healthy,” he said. “It was following J-16
a lot of the time, but all of the family was in the area, and they
would group up at times.
“We’ll show Ken our pictures and debrief him when we get back,”
he added.
Because J-27, a male in J pod, has been carrying a satellite
transmitter since Dec. 28, experts have a pretty good idea about
their location, as the orcas move about. Check out the maps on
NOAA’s website,
“2015 Southern Resident Killer Whale Satellite Tagging.”
As of this afternoon, J pod, including the J-16 clan, was near
Nanaimo, B.C., and headed south toward the Washington border,
according to Tom Cogan, who was in the vicinity.
It looks like K-25 and his companions did a little zig-zagging
yesterday, also turning south and then north again. The
latest report from this morning shows them near Coos Bay.
—–
UPDATE, Jan. 16, 2013
K pod crossed the Oregon border yesterday on their way back
north. The latest satellite data from this morning places the orcas
near Port Orford, Ore., according to an
update from Robin Baird of Cascadia Research, who is helping
with the tracking effort.
—–
UPDATE, Jan. 15, 2013
After turning around at Point Reyes Friday night, K pod has
proceeded north. The latest satellite data from this morning showed
the whales at Crescent City, Calif., about 20 miles from the Oregon
border. The orcas are still traveling north, but will they come
back to Puget Sound?
—–
Killer whale experts were anticipating yesterday that K pod
might make it to Monterey Bay and perhaps a little farther south,
as I described in a story in
this morning’s Kitsap Sun.
Everyone was wondering exactly where these whales would linger
and where they would eventually turn around and return north.
Robin Baird of Cascadia Research Collective reported this
morning that satellite data showed that the whales had turned
around last night after reaching Point Reyes, which is north of San
Francisco Bay. They continued rapidly north, reaching Bodega Bay
this morning.
Where K pod will travel next is anyone’s guess. But, if we’ve
learned anything through the years about Southern Residents, we
know that they will remain unpredictable. I’ll keep reporting their
travels as long as they seem interesting.
A new calf was spotted
today in L pod. The baby, L119, is the offspring of L77,
Matia.
Photo courtesy of Jeanne Hyde via Capt. Jim
Maya
UPDATE, June 3
The Center for Whale Research has reported the apparent absence
of two additional Southern Resident killer whales as a result of an
encounter last Tuesday by center researchers Dave Ellifrit, Erin
Heydenreich and Barbara Bender.
In addition to L-112, the 3-year-old female found dead near Long
Beach in February, and J-30, a 17-year-old male who has not been
seen since December, the research team reported that two older
females appear to be missing. They are L-5, estimated at 47, and
L-12, estimated at 78. (Their ages are estimates, because the
annual census that keeps track of every birth and death began 36
years ago.)
“We will wait for a couple more good encounters with L pod
before writing them off to make sure they were not just missed,”
the researchers said in their report
of the encounter, which also includes 10 photos.
Killer whales of the Salish Sea and Puget Sound returned to the
San Juan Islands with a newborn calf yesterday, as I described in a
story for
tomorrow’s Kitsap Sun.
The newborn orca, K-44, was
photographed with his mother in Haro Strait in the San Juan
Islands.
Photo: Center for Whale Research
While J pod and portions of K and L pods have been seen in
inland waters lately, the major portion of K and L pods have not
been around for weeks.
I was ready in early June to write about their return, because
that is often when they arrive in Washington state to spend much of
the summer. On Tuesday of this week, when L pod was reported off
the West Coast of Vancouver Island, I began checking with marine
mammal and salmon experts to find out what might be keeping the
orcas away.
I was getting ready to write something about the missing orcas
and their search for chinook salmon when they suddenly showed up
with the new baby. I will save some ideas about the orca-salmon
connection until I can put my thoughts into a coherent form. For
now, it’s good to celebrate the arrival of the newborn with no
apparent deaths among the orcas seen so far.
Of course, nobody knows how long they will stay or where they
will travel over the next few months before heading into Central
and South Puget Sound in the fall.
The new baby, designated K-44, is one the youngest calves ever
identified by gender. (He’s a boy.) Frequently, months or even
years will go by before researchers get a good look or photograph
of their undersides. Check out diagram at Center for
Whale Research (click on “Questions & Answers”) to see how you
can tell males from females.
