By Julie McIntire Corey
On Friday, Dec. 20, reports of a new orca baby had been spotted with J-pod. Over that weekend, the weather turned stormy, and the dark waters in Puget Sound were rough. On Monday, December 23rd, it was confirmed by the Center for Whale Research that, indeed, J-35 was swimming with a new baby calf and other J-pod orcas near north Alki Point in Puget Sound. All marine researchers limit the time they spend with new Orca mothers and their calves, making short observations and taking pictures for their official identification. J-35 was seen pushing the live baby with her nose, and there was concern as the baby looked like it was struggling. This encounter provided the scientists with the right a view to identify the gender as female. This new orca calf was assigned her official number J-61. That designation means that this baby orca family was J-pod, and she was the 61st confirmed orca born into that pod.
J-35 is 27 years old and the mother of 2 male orcas, J-47(15 years old) and J-57 (five years old). J-35’s mother was J-17, she died in 2019.
Jan 1 was the subsequent encounter with J-pod orcas. Sadly, J-35 calf J-61 had died, and her mother was pushing her dead baby J-61 on her head. Other Southern Resident Killer Whales like K-27 have exhibited this behavior. No Southern Resident Orcas have exhibited this behavior as long as J-35. In 2018, J-35 made international news, and she pushed her dead baby orca around the Salish Sea for seventeen days. The world saw her grieving/mourning for her baby in a way we have never seen before. It brought much-needed attention to our iconic Southern Resident Killer Whales ( SRWK). There are currently only 73 SRWK left. The birth survival rate for newborn orcas was 70 to 80%; currently, it is 50%. That is a call to action. They need more food; their main diet is Chinook/King Salmon. When our SRKW lack food, they digest their blubber/fat, where toxins are stored. Digesting those toxins makes whales unhealthy. Add in all the negative interactions with humans and the result is stressed whales.
J-pod had more news to share—it is good news! After the J-35 encounter on Jan 1, 2025, the Center for Whale Research headed to Vashon Island, where they received a report of another new baby orca with different members of J-pod. It was confirmed that another baby orca in J-pod was born and registered as J-62 and appeared to be swimming and breathing normally. Currently, the J-17 and J-19 subgroups are with the new baby orca, and the mother has not been identified. That is not unusual, as many orcas are swimming with the newborn—more updates to follow.
