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Southern Resident whales

Ambitious plan to free captive orca Lolita announced

The new owner of the Miami Seaquarium in the US has announced that it is...
Gray whale

UN adopts High Seas Treaty to protect the ocean

At the UN 'High Seas Treaty' negotiations in New York, a historic vote for the...

Hopes raised for whale and dolphin protection after last minute landmark nature agreement

WDC's Ed Goodall (far right) at COP15 with Thérèse Coffey (centre) UK Secretary of State...

WDC orca champion picks up award

Beatrice Whishart MSP picks up her Nature Champion award The Scottish Environment LINK, an organisation...

Sixth Calf born to Southern Residents

This week, the Center for Whale Research reported another new calf in J pod, seen swimming with presumed Mother J17 (Princess Angeline).  This latest new arrival, designated J53, is the third new baby in J pod in 2015, and the sixth overall within the last year.  He or she joins other J pod calves J50 (born December 2014), J51, and J52; and two new L pod calves L121 and L122.  The first year of life can be difficult for new orca calves, with a mortality rate of approximately 50%.  So far, all the new additions seem to be doing well, and the four who have made it past the six-month mark have been given names by the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor: J50 (Scarlet), J51 (Nova), J52 (Sonic), and L121 (Windsong).  Birth rates in the Southern Resident community fluctuate between years and has been shown to be closely correlated with the coastwide abundance of their primary prey, Chinook salmon.  Prior to this year, the Southern Residents had not had a suriving calf since 2012, and have had a nearly two-to-one death-to-birth ratio in recent years.