Submitted by the Center for Whale Research

UPDATE December 29:

Maya Sears shared a viewfinder photo with Dave Ellifrit of the underside of J60. Dave was able to confirm that J60 is a boy! We can’t wait to see this new J Pod baby firsthand.

Statement:

The Center for Whale Research has received reports and photos from Puget Sound killer whale researchers Maya and Mark Sears of a new calf with J pod on Dec. 26.

The calf was not with the pod in recent CWR encounters, or when Mark and Maya saw the whales on the 23rd, making this calf just a few days old. The calf was primarily observed near adult female J40, who has not yet had a calf, as well as other J pod females. J40 seems to be the most likely mother, but we’ll try to confirm this in subsequent encounters. The calf’s sex is unknown.

We hope to see lots more of this calf in the coming weeks and months, and that both the calf and its mother will be able to thrive.