It's official. Scientists from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center have announced a new calf in J-pod, J-48. The calf belongs to J-16 "Slick", historically a very successful mother who has 4 surviving calves. This is great news for J-pod which now has a total number of 27 animals, and is the pod most frequently seen by our summer tours.
The calf was confirmed in Admiralty Inlet Area on December 21st. J-48 brings the Southern Resident Killer Whale population to 89 animals. Let's all cross our fingers that this calf does well through the winter. With J-16 showing a strong history of surviving calves, I think J-48 may has a better than average chance of survival.
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