The Center for Whale Research says endangered southern resident J31 was observed with a dead newborn calf on Oct. 3 near Sombrio Point.
The Story
Endangered southern resident killer whale J31 was seen with a dead newborn calf near Sombrio Point in the Strait of Juan de Fuca on Oct. 3, according to the Center for Whale Research (CWR).
CWR said the sighting was made by researcher Mark Malleson while he was in the area with J31 and her immediate family.
CWR said it does not know whether the newborn calf was male or female, whether the birth was full term, or whether the calf died after birth or was stillborn.
According to CWR, the loss is significant to the endangered killer whale population.
CWR said J31 has been observed carrying a dead calf once before, in 2016.
J31 was born in 1995 and has one surviving offspring, her daughter J56, who was born in 2019.
“For a population as small as the southern residents, the successful birth and survival of every calf matters. Many factors limit the population’s ability to reproduce and recover, but one of the most significant is the availability of the large, nutritionally rich Chinook salmon these whales depend on,” CWR said in its statement.
← More stories