It’s a girl! Calf born to endangered southern resident orcas seen with mom

It’s a girl!

The Center for Whale Research, based in Washington state, has confirmed the newest calf for a pod of endangered southern resident orcas is a girl.

Staff with the centre encountered J pod during a photo-ID and aerial observation survey on May 26 and as the whales were rolling under and at the surface, the team was able to determine that the calf, known as J59, is a female.

The calf was born to born to J37.

1:04 J Pod orcas seen swimming in Puget Sound

0:57 ‘J50’ orca spotted with her pod off coast of Port Renfrew

The pod is usually been seen between the southern tip of Vancouver Island and the United States from April to September.

J59 is the first calf born to J pod since September 2020.

Her mother was born in 2011 and gave birth to her first calf in 2012, a male named J49.

There are about 73 southern resident killer whales left in the world, while a growing population of around 300 northern residents are considered threatened, but not endangered.