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North Atlantic right whale - Peter Flood

Whale AID 2023: A Night of Music and Hope for North Atlantic Right Whales

The inaugural Whale AID concert to support Whale and Dolphin Conservation's (WDC's) work to protect...
IMG_6030

Meet the 2023 Interns: Thomas Zoutis

I'm happy to introduce WDC's first Marine Mammal Conservation Intern of the year, Thomas Zoutis!...
MicrosoftTeams-image (9)

Double Your Impact for Marine Animal Rescue & Response

On a chilly day this past December, the WDC North America team celebrated the first...
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WDC’s Education Wishlist = Cleared!

To the WDC Community, I want to thank you so much for your support of...
Hysazu Photography

Looking forward for Southern Resident orcas in 2023

Hysazu Photography 2022 was a big year for Southern Resident orcas - 2022 brought the...
Credit: Seacoast Science Center

The Unlikely Adventure of Shoebert, a Young Grey Seal Who Visited an Industrial Park Pond

Credit: Seacoast Science Center In mid-September, our stranding partners in northern Massachusetts were inundated with...
Leaping harbour porpoise

The power of harbour porpoise poo

We know we need to save the whale to save the world. Now we are...
Right whale - Regina WDC

Whale and Dolphin Conservation: Change Through Policy.

WDC focuses on education, research, conservation projects, and policy work to create a sustainable future...

The Baby Boom Continues

Last week, in the midst of the largest gathering of marine mammal scientists in the world (more on that later!), we learned that the Center for Whale Research had confirmed the seventh new calf this year in the critically endangered Southern Resident orca community.  New baby J54 was spotted with 22-year-old mother Polaris (J28) – the totals for 2015 are now four new babies for J pod and three for L pod.  Starting with Scarlet (J50), born in December 2014 and the first calf to survive since 2012, this small community has seen a baby boom not observed since 1977, when nine new calves were born (of those nine, five are still alive today). 

Scarlet will reach the critical one-year mark at the end of the month; the first year of life is hard for new orca calves, with a mortality rate as high as 50%.  We will keep our fingers crossed for all the new calves, though researchers are worried about what will happen in the next few years.  Birth and death rates in the Southern Resident population are closely correlated to the coastwide abundance of their preferred prey, Chinook salmon, and while these new calves are likely a result of increased salmon runs (for some areas) in the past couple of years, the ongoing drought in the western US and the threatening massive El Niño this year puts the future of many salmon runs in jeopardy.

More babies are certainly needed in the Southern Resident community to help this fragile population recover, but they also mean more mouths to feed on a dwindling food supply, among other threats.  WDC is working to restore rivers and salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest to help the Southern Resident orcas survive and thrive.  Help us in our work by reading more here and by adopting an orca today!

And in the meantime, enjoy this video from the Center for Whale Research of new baby J54!