4
4
0
Orcas don’t have gender-reveal parties (as far as we know).
But on Thursday, when a baby orca surfaced in Puget Sound and rolled over on its side, biologist Maya Sears was able to photograph its white underside from a small research skiff.
Sears shared her photo with orca surveyor Dave Ellifrit at the Center for Whale Research, who confirmed that this whale, less than a week old, is male.
The latest addition to the Northwest’s endangered orca population is known as J60.
But on Thursday, when a baby orca surfaced in Puget Sound and rolled over on its side, biologist Maya Sears was able to photograph its white underside from a small research skiff.
Sears shared her photo with orca surveyor Dave Ellifrit at the Center for Whale Research, who confirmed that this whale, less than a week old, is male.
The latest addition to the Northwest’s endangered orca population is known as J60.
Orca update: It’s a boy!
Posted from kuow.orgPosted in these groups: 
Wildlife
Puget Sound
Wildlife Puget Sound
Posted 4 mo ago
Responses: 2
1
1
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Biologists celebrated the news of the birth cautiously: Many baby orcas die within a year due to toxic pollution and a lack of salmon to eat. J60 is believed to be the first offspring of orca J40, which would mean her mother’s milk could release a concentrated dose of persistent pollutants accumulated over the course of her 19-year life.
This birth brings the endangered orca population, which numbered 98 in 1995, to an estimated 75 individuals."
..."Biologists celebrated the news of the birth cautiously: Many baby orcas die within a year due to toxic pollution and a lack of salmon to eat. J60 is believed to be the first offspring of orca J40, which would mean her mother’s milk could release a concentrated dose of persistent pollutants accumulated over the course of her 19-year life.
This birth brings the endangered orca population, which numbered 98 in 1995, to an estimated 75 individuals."
(1)
(0)
0
0
0
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google