A Tofino whale-watching company has spotted a new calf swimming with a pod of endangered southern resident killer whales.
Jennifer Steven of The Whale Centre announced the birth on her company’s blog Friday after she and her husband, John Forde, observed the calf with J-pod the previous day.
“We were so excited,” she said in an interview.
“Any new baby for these killer whales is great news. Obviously, we’re rooting for them and we want to see them survive.”
It’s the second reported birth this year among southern residents and boosts their numbers to 76.
The population dwindled to 74 last year after three deaths and the whales remain under threat due to vessel noise, pollution and a shortage of chinook salmon.
In addition to co-owning The Whale Centre, Steven and Forde volunteer their time to take ID pictures of killer whales under a research permit.
It was in that capacity that they were on the water Thursday without any guests aboard, Steven said.
“We got a call yesterday morning that there were killer whales about four miles off of Tofino,” she said.
“We got on scene and we quickly determined that the killer whales in the area were, in fact, J-pod. So we let all the whale-watching companies know and then everyone that was there backed off.”
Steven and Forde took pictures of the whales for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Washington.
“Right away we noticed a brand new calf,” she said. “This calf was small, very orange. It still had some fetal folds.”
Steven initially announced that the calf was swimming with J41, but she said the Center for Whale Research now believes the calf was with J31.
The center said Friday night that more research is needed to determine whether J31 is the calf’s mother.
“They’re telling me that they think the calf was born in the last three weeks. It looked healthy,” she said.
“It acted like any other baby killer whale that John and I have observed, and we see them a lot.”
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans confirmed the birth in a social media post late Friday afternoon.
“We are happy to confirm that the newborn Southern Resident #KillerWhale calf spotted in Canadian Pacific waters near #TofinoBC will be the newest member of the Salish Sea’s J-Pod,” the department said on Twitter.
