Whale Watching in the San Juan Islands of Washington State

The following is a press release from the Whale Museum of a dead orca calf found along the shoreline of Henry Island on 26 July.

STRANDED KILLER WHALE CALF FOUND ON HENRY ISLAND
The Whale Museum, Friday Harbor, WA

On August 2, the San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network recovered the body of a dead orca calf from Open Bay on Henry Island. The body was initially sighted and photographed by a part-time resident of Henry Island during the low tide on the morning of July 26. Unfortunately, the Network did not get the information and pictures until several days later so when the carcass was finally recovered, it was in a state of advanced decomposition.

“A newborn killer whale calf is usually 7-8 feet long and 300-400 pounds,” says Amy Traxler, Stranding Network Coordinator. “This carcass was approximately five feet long with an estimated weight of 70-80 pounds so it’s likely this calf was aborted.” The placenta was lying next to the calf when originally discovered.

Currently it is not known if this killer whale calf was from the endangered Southern Resident population or was a transient or offshore ecotype. Joe Gaydos, the Stranding Network’s Veterinarian and Regional Director of the SeaDoc Society, will collect tissue samples when they conduct a complete necropsy. “If we recover viable skin and blubber, which is not always possible from a decomposed carcass, we might be able to determine if the calf is a member of the Southern Resident Community and possibly even narrow down the pod of origin.” Fresh tissue samples also would contain information on contaminant levels and possibly provide a cause for the calf’s abortion.

It’s very rare to recover a body of a stranded killer whale. A recent paper Gaydos presented to the International Whaling Commission suggests that only an average of 7 killer whale carcasses are found around the world annually, making every killer whale stranding a rare opportunity to learn more about the biology and diseases of this species.

In May 2002, L-60’s (Rascal) carcass was found on the outer coast of Washington. In January 2002, the body of a female transient whale was recovered down by Dungeness Spit. The body of J-18 (Everett) washed up by Tsawwassen, B.C. in March of 2000 and the body of L-51 (Nootka) was found in September, 1999 over by Victoria, B.C.. All of these carcasses were fresh, permitting scientists to learn more about the diseases of killer whales and which diseases might have an impact on the overall health of the population. Fresh necropsy samples also have helped scientists understand how contaminants impact killer whales.

The San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network is one of many science and education programs at The Whale Museum. If you encounter a stranded marine mammal in San Juan County, alive or dead, please call 1-800-562-8832 and leave a message with your name, phone number, location, and other pertinent details of the stranding. You will be helping to better understand and protect the region’s marine mammals.
Press Release courtesy of The Whale Museum

The following is a press release from the Center for Whale Research regarding the missing K pod whale Lummi (K-7).

It appears that K-21, Cappuccino, that was also reported missing is alive and well as of this writing.

The Center for Whale Research has made public their concern that 98 year old K7 has likely died, as she has not been seen in any of their encounters with K pod since their return to San Juan Island this summer. The Center has not yet been able to confirm the presence of all of L pod’s members, as L pod has not been around for enough encounters to survey the entire pod and confirm any that may be missing.

K7 leaves behind her daughter K11, Grand-daughter K13, Great-grandcalves K20, K25, K27 and K34, and Great-great grandcalf K38.

We don’t really know how important K7 was to her extended family these past nine or ten decades. We do know that K7 was a great-great grandmother since 2004 when her great granddaughter K20 gave birth to her great-great grand son or daughter, K38. But there’s no hard evidence to tell us how orcas treat each other or how their roles develop as they grow in wisdom over the years.

After over 32 years of continuous studies based on Jane Goodall’s method called individual recognition, the research community believes that older females guide the entire clan and pass their deep knowledge of habitat and family traditions on to younger generations. K7, aka Lummi, was estimated to be the very oldest of them all. Her calculated birthdate was 1910, making her 98 years old this year, which is essentially equal to J2 (Granny), who lives on at about 97 years old. The next oldest is L25 (Ocean Sun), est. born in 1928, and three other females who were given a birthdate of 1933. J2 and K7 were definitely the elder females of the clan, and now only J2 can be considered to have the longest life and experience among the Southern Resident orca community.

We can only surmise how the other members of her family behaved and felt toward K7. We know that, like humans, females often live on for decades after having their last offspring at around age 40, so it is believed that these mature females must be highly valued by their families for their knowledge of fluctuations in habitat and where and how to find abundant food. But we also know that the Southern Residents’ entire vocal and behavioral repertoires are completely unique and distinct from all other orca societies, and presumably it’s the grandmother class that carries and transmits all these calls, rules, attitudes and traditions to the younger generations. When every aspect of life, from when and what to eat, when to mate (and with whom), when not to mate, when to split up and travel and when to meet and greet and throw a party, are all determined according to cultural norms, clearly some individuals must play the part of respected guides and mentors.

But our understanding of all those mysterious and intricate interrelationships will have to remain in the realm of informed speculation, because we have no idea what they are saying to one another, and to date there have been no clear observations of discipline or jousting for dominance, or forced behavior of any kind (except when moms corral or command their young ones), and unlike the scars found on humpbacks and sperm whales, there’s no sign that they fight at all.

It’s apparently all done with subtle suggestions based on the profound influence of the longest-lived, most richly experienced females. K7 must have been highly regarded as one of the most reliable sources of traditional knowledge among Southern Resident orcas. May she be remembered respectfully and fondly by humans and orcas alike.

Press release courtesy of the Center for Whale Research