An orca calf born into the southern residents pod in the San Juan Islands appears to be struggling for life, whale researchers said Friday.
The calf, called L128, was born to a 31-year-old first-time mom, L90, the Center for Whale Research had confirmed on Sept. 30.
Although initially the tiny baby seemed to be doing fine, observations from a center researcher last weekend were worrisome. “The behavior he describes and documented is also concerning, with the calf remaining limp for long periods of time,” the center said Friday.
“Like all of you, we celebrated this new birth and treasured the new baby as a sign of hope for this struggling population,” another organization, the Orca Network, said on Facebook. “The calf’s mother L90 ‘Ballena’ is the only surviving member of her matriline, having lost all her relatives by 2018. She is the oldest first-time mother at 31 years old and has likely had multiple miscarriages before the successful birth of L128. We were overjoyed that she was finally a mother, and initial concern that the two of them were alone in the Salish Sea gave way to hope upon learning that the calf looked healthy and was nursing.”
Staff member Mark Malleson of the Center for Whale Research spotted the calf Oct. 5 with another orca, not the mother, and was troubled by the baby’s notable weakness. “The photographs that Mark acquired showed an obvious decline, with the shape of the skull clearly visible in several photographs,” the center said. “The behavior he describes and documented is also concerning, with the calf remaining limp for long periods of time while being pushed by L83. It’s unclear why the calf was with L83 rather than L90.”
A subsequent outing the next day did not spot the calf but the center is not yet listing it as missing.
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