The seventh calf born to the endangered southern resident orca population was officially ID’d by researchers over the weekend. According to the Center for Whale Research, which conducts the annual southern resident census:
The new calf will be designated L123. This is the first documented calf of 12-year-old L103 of the L4 matriline.
The new calf belongs to L-pod, meaning he or she (it takes a while for researchers to determine if newborns are male or female) is part of Lolita’s extended family. Lolita is the orca who’s been stuck in Florida for 45 years.
More photos are below.
The CWR says the first people to catch sight of L123 were two women in West Seattle:
L123 was first photo documented on November 10th, 2015 by Alisa Lemire-Brooks and Sarah Hisong-Shimazu from Alki Point, West Seattle. CWR research assistants, Melisa Pinnow and Jane Cogan, later captured some distant shots on November 22nd near the Jordan River in B.C. Due to poor visibility and unfavorable sea conditions, it took several weeks to confirm that there is indeed a new calf in L pod. We frequently use eye patches to positively identify new calves [but eye patches] can easily be obscured by poor conditions and surface waves.
It should be mentioned, as always, that half of newborn orcas die within the first year. Also, that food scarcity and other factors are making life in Puget Sound difficult for orcas. As CWR puts it:
While a new calf born to this struggling population is certainly cause to celebrate, it is important to remember that another SRKW also means another mouth to feed. With each new calf that is born, we continue to emphasize the need to focus on wild Chinook salmon restoration efforts. Especially the removal of obsolete dams that block wild salmon from their natal spawning habitat, such as those on the lower Snake River.
You want to see L123’s face?
