In mid August the Marine Connection reported about an orca calf that had disappeared off the Washington coast only to be found days later. However five adult orcas have disappeared in recent weeks, three from the K and L pods that live off the southern coast of B.C. and northern Washington state.

A recently orphaned killer whale calf has been added to the list of orcas missing and presumed dead. One of the missing orcas is the calf's mother. Two other northern resident orcas are also missing. The calf was last sighted October 1 in the company of its aunt K22 Sekiu, also a nursing mother. Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island was initially hopeful that the calf K39 had been adopted by its aunt, but now it's missing too. Orca calves survive solely on their mother's milk for at least a year, making it unlikely the K39 would last long without its mother or an adoptive female.

Adult female orcas produce one calf every five years and about 40 per cent of orca calves die in the first year of life. The loss of so many females of reproductive age is a real concern to the researchers as the loss of K28 and perhaps now her calf is not just one or two deaths. Her loss could represent the loss of four or five, given that she could have easily produced three or four more calves over the next 15 years or so.

Three calves were born to the southern resident pods this summer, temporarily raising the population to 90 but the loss of three adults and now a calf brings the number back down to 86. Only 23 females of reproductive age remain in the southern group.

The southern resident pods, classified as endangered by both the U.S. and Canada, made progress before this disastrous period and it was hoped that the numbers would rise to over 100. The other orcas missing from the southern resident group are a 20 year old male, L71 Hugo and 34 year old L43 Jellyroll. No carcasses have been found.

Image: James Dorsey