2023-06-28 03:30:41
SEATTLE (AP) — An orca calf appears to have been born in an endangered population off the North American Pacific coast, scientists say.
The Center for Whale Research announced the sighting of the calf on Facebook Friday, reporting that the organization received photos showing what appeared to be a new calf in the L pod — part of the population known as the southern resident orcas. near Tofino, British Columbia.
The calf appears to be over three weeks old and would be the first in the herd since L125 was born in 2021.
The researchers from the center will have to meet the group in the water to determine who the mother of the calf is, assess its state of health and assign it an alphanumeric identification.
“We hope to see this calf very soon in our study area,” the group said.
“We are always cautiously optimistic regarding these new calves, because the mortality rate in the first year is quite high,” Michael Weiss, director of research at the Center for Whale Research, told The Seattle Times. “But we have hope; it’s good to have another calf from pack L”.
Southern resident orcas struggle to survive due to multiple threats, including not enough Chinook salmon in their feeding area, pollution, and underwater noise that makes it difficult for them to hunt.
If confirmed, the new calf would bring the total number of southern resident orcas to 74.
This is one of the lowest population counts since 1974, when 71 killer whales were recorded following live captures in the 1960s, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). in English).
The population peaked at 98 individuals in 1995, but dropped to 80 in 2001.
Southern resident orcas live in matriarchal families divided into three pods, named J, K, and L. They tend to stay near the western offshore islands of Canada and Washington in the Salish Sea, and along the Oregon coast.
As apex predators, they occupy an important role in the ecosystem, at the top of the food chain.
The southern resident orcas were listed as endangered under the Threatened Species Act in 2005, and a recovery plan was finalized in 2008.
In 2015, they were one of NOAA’s “Species in the Crosshairs,” an effort to raise awareness and save “the most endangered marine species.”
The National Marine Fisheries Service expanded critical killer whale habitat from the Canadian border to Point Sur, California, adding some 16,000 square miles (41,000 square kilometers) of feeding grounds, river mouths and migratory routes.
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