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Here’s your chance to name a baby orca

Every baby needs a name, even baby whales, and now everyone has the chance to name BC’s newest baby orca.
Orca calf
Image via ThinkStock

Every baby needs a name, even baby whales, and now everyone has the chance to name BC’s newest baby orca.

In June, whale researchers from the Hakai Beach Institute, the Vancouver Aquarium, and the Marine Education Research Society spotted a welcome sight off British Columbia’s north coast: killer whale Springer (officially known as A73) with her one-year-old calf, A104. 

Because A104 is an dreadful name for any baby, regardless of species, the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Research Program is asking for help from the public to name the wild whale. Suggestions for the calf’s name can be emailed to Adoption@VanAqua.org, along with a sentence or two about the significance of the suggestion. 

It’s not yet known if the calf is male or female, so gender-neutral names are best. Something like Pat, or Avery, or Beaufort.

Springer, a female member of B.C.’s A4 pod of northern resident killer whales, made international headlines in 2002, after she became orphaned as a two-year-old and was spotted sick and alone near Seattle, hundreds of kilometres from home. 

She became the first killer whale to be rescued, rehabilitated, and reunited with her pod, an accomplishment that required the cooperation of two federal governments, scientists from both countries, and experienced animal care staff from the Vancouver Aquarium. The world-famous rescue became even more meaningful last year when Springer was first sighted with her newborn calf.