I am SO bad with posting!!! I AM going to do better!!! A lot happens in the world of orcas so I need to catch up on at least some of it!!!
I'll start with the Northern Resident News!
July 3rd 2010 - A12 (Scimitar) returned to the Johnstone Strait with the two remaining A36 brothers; A37 (Plumper) and A46 (Kaikash).
July 7th 2010 - A56 (Nahwitti) has a new calf, A97 but sadly, A13 (Skeena), a 32 year old male is missing and presumed dead. A11 (Yakat) and A73 (Springer) were travelling with A56 and A97.
July 13th 2010 - W3 lost her last son, W2 (Glenville) this year, and returned travelling with R13 (Kimsquit) and her 5 year old calf R47 (Kevin).
July 19th 2010 - A34 (Simoom) has a new calf, A98. The calf was born in the Johnstone Strait as well because the A34s arrived without any new calves other than A91 and A92 born last year.
October 3rd 2010 - The G3s were spotted, I'm not sure who all was there. Stubbs Island Whale Watching reported seeing 8 whales and mentioned G37 and her offspring, plus A63, an 11 year old, now confirmed female, with a new calf. Without knowing all the "G" births, I won't be able to know the ID.
Not sure if I got them all, I am also not sure of new deaths/births in G Clan and R Clan, they are less frequently seen in the Johnstone Strait area.
Season Report
Right now, there are no reports of NRs in the Johnstone Strait area. The last we heard of orcas was when G Clan whales passed through on October 8th.
The whales returned later this year, in early July but that certainly didn't mean there'd be no action. Ever since August 18th when the I15s arrived the orcas began to party!! There was a point in time when 114 orcas were spread out in front of Malcolm Island with PWS dolphins and suddenly the next day they were gone! Check out OrcaLab's blog to read about what went on over the summer! http://orcalab.org/blog/
Now onto the Southern Residents!!!
First of all, the Naming Contest for the Southern Resident calves ended in September and the names are:
Moby is J44
Star is J46 (I was the first person to submit this name so I have a free adoption of Star for a full year!)
Sooke is L112
Cousteau is L113
August 13th 2010 - L47 (Marina) was seen with her 7th calf, L115. The calf only has two living siblings; L83 (Moonlight) and L91 (Muncher), along with L83's 3 year old calf L110 (Midnight).
The Center for Whale Research shared the 2010 Summer Orca Survey results, sadly the SRs lost 3 adults and 1 calf.
We bid farewell to:
L73 (Flash), a male born in 1986 and missing summer 2010
L74 (Saanich), a male born also in 1986 and missing summer 2010
K11 (Georgia), a matriarch female estimated to be born in 1933, was last observed June 9th 2010
And, as I mentioned a couple of posts down, L114, new calf born to L77 (Matia) in February was missing when the whales returned in June.
September 10th 2010 - L72 (Racer) was carrying a dead calf of the west side of San Jaun Island. L72 and L105 (Fluke) travelled together with the dead calf for over 6 hours. The calf appeared to be female, and the umbilical cord was still attached. It is unknown wether the calf was stillborn or not. L72 rotated between pushing the calf in front of her and balancing it on her rostrum. To read more visit the Whale Museum's website and go to News Updates or go here http://blog.seattlepi.com/candacewhiting/month.asp?blogmonth=9/1/10 where there is a picture too.
We also know some genders of the younger whales
L112 (Sooke) is a female
L113 (Cousteau) is a female
J46 (Star) is a female
J47 is a male
Alright, I'll update more tomorrow
If you haven't already heard - 2 more orcas have been lost at Sea World since Taima's death, and another calf was been over the weekend...
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