WASHINGTON — Good news for the orca population on the west coast!
The Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) announced that a new Bigg’s orca calf has been spotted in the Salish Sea. The calf was first seen as part of a group of more than a dozen orcas on March 20 between Port Townsend and the San Juan Islands. It was subsequently resighted several times over the weekend, the PWWA said.
A reminder that Bigg’s orcas are transient whales that hunt other mammals, like seals, sea lions and porpoises. Their population is about 400. The southern resident orcas, which consists of three pods, are the ones that eat only Chinook salmon, but some studies show they have been known to eat other types of salmon. Their population is about 73.
While the southern residents have been struggling with its population in the last decade or so, PWWA said the Bigg’s killer whales are having a baby boom.
Bigg’s orca “Sedna” (T046B3) was seen swimming alongside what is believed to be her calf. This is 14-year-old Sedna’s first known calf.
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“In the images, you can still see fetal folds, along with distinctive orange coloration,” shares Erin Gless, the PWWA’s executive director, referring to creases in the calf’s skin as a result of being scrunched inside its mother’s belly. “These factors are normal and indicate the calf is quite young, likely a week or two at most.”
Sedna is part of a well-known family of orcas. In 1976, her grandmother, “Wake” (T046) was one of six whales captured in the Budd Inlet and held by Sea World. This capture was on the heels of a time when orcas were rounded up, captured and sent to aqua parks like Sea World and the Miami Seaquarium. The most famous of these captures was in August 1970, where over 80 orcas were rounded up in Penn Cove for captivity.
Ralph Munro, assistant to then-Governor Dan Evans, witnessed the captures while sailing with friends and was appalled. Munro helped file a lawsuit against Sea World, leading to the whales’ release.
Wake’s group were the last killer whales to be captured in U.S. waters.
Wake is responsible for eight assumed calves, 16 grand-calves, and six great grand-calves.
“Without the direct efforts of Ralph Munro, at least 30 Bigg’s killer whales would have never been born,” PWWA said.
Munro died at the age of 81, just last week.
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