||| FROM CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH |||
On December 10, the Center for Whale Research team received reports and images from Orca Network and Orca Conservancy of a small calf accompanying K pod in Puget Sound. The next day, researchers Mark and Maya Sears followed up on these reports and conducted an encounter with K pod. They were able to obtain clear images of the new calf’s dorsal fin, saddle patch, and eye patch that can be used for reidentification, allowing us to catalogue this new whale as part of our demographic dataset.
The new calf is designated K47 (due to some reassignments of individuals from L pod to K pod early in the study, there has already been a K46), and Maya reports that the calf appears to be swimming normally. K47 is most closely associating with K36; however, with other reproductive females nearby, we’ll need more encounters to be sure who the mother is. We’re also waiting on clearer shots of the calf’s underside to confirm its sex. We estimate this calf to have been born within the last week.
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With such a young individual, we always balance our optimism with caution. The first year of life is hard for southern residents, with only about half of all calves born making it through this period. We hope to see this calf survive and thrive over the coming months and years. |
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