the WHALE Report
Sept // 2020
CWR Member News // Published Quarterly
Eating For TWO
L72 (pictured) and J35 are pregnant!
According to recent aerial photographs, thirty-four-year-old, L72, and twenty-two-year-old, J35, are pregnant. L72’s mid-body width is evidence that she is closer to giving birth than her J pod community member. Read more about Orca pregnancies >
L72 and her sixteen-year-old son, L105, seen on July 25, 2020 during Encounter #35.
Photograph by Katie Jones, taken under Center for Whale Research Federal permit NMFS # 21238.
QUOTABLE // from the SCIENCE Desk // SIGHTINGS update
ABOUT Orcas // getting to KNOW THEM // a look BACK
QUOTABLE
We are looking at a lot of dead-end matrilines and a major population crash in the coming decades if more female calves are not born into the Southern Resident community . . . Unless {humans] can provide the whales with proper amounts of salmon and reduce the contaminants in their blubber [interfering] with their immune and reproductive systems, the Southern Resident community will continue to decline.
- Dave Ellifrit, CWR Orca ID Specialist
From Dave Ellifrit's July 27, 2020 BLOG Happy 30th birthday, L83!
from the SCIENCE Desk
ORCA Survey
Since 1976, the Center for Whale Research has been conducting observation-based studies of killer whales in the Salish Sea. CWR staff continue to collect detailed demographic data about the Southern Resident killer whale population for the 2020 Orca Survey, including photo-identification images of members of the SRKW community; observations of births and deaths; information about the behavior and ecology of the animals, including where the animals are in geographic location and time, and their social behavior and foraging patterns. This dataset continues to provide unprecedented insights into killer whale biology and ecology that can inform management decisions to assist in the recovery of the population.
Dave Ellifrit, CWR Orca ID Specialist, busy working on the Orca Survey database in the
Centre for Whale Research office.
Aerial Observation Study
In 2018, the Center for Whale Research, working with a research team from the University of Exeter, launched a research study using drones (i.e., unmanned aerial vehicles/ UAVs) to study the social organization and underwater behaviour of the Southern Resident killer whales from a new perspective. This study helps understand the SRKW's complex lives better, revealing factors that influence survival, reproduction, social structure, and the evolution of this species unique life-history.
In 2019, the CWR-University of Exeter SRKW Aerial Observation Study was expanded and became part of a large international project funded by the National Environmental Research Council in the United Kingdom to look at how family life influences rates of aging. CWR Scientific Advisor (Animal Social Networks) and Professor of Animal Behaviour at the University of Exeter, Dr. Darren Croft, summarizes the project: The Evolution of Sex Differences in Mammalian Social Life Histories.
Read more about the SRKW Aerial Observation Study and CWR's drone pilots. When the ORCA SURVEY Outreach & Education Center in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island reopens, you can watch aerial footage of the Southern Residents on a big screen and have your questions about orcas answered.
RECENT Published Studies
Visit Research Publications at WhaleResearch.com for a list of publications where the Center for Whale Research has had involvement.
SIGHTINGS update
2020 Encounter summary:
38 Encounters through September 1, 2020
-
Southern Resident killer whale encounters: 13
-
Transient/Bigg's killer whale encounters: 25
Encounters with killer whales in inland waters since June 1. Encounter #30 - #38, are marked on the map: SRKW Encounters are marked with red numbered dots and Transients/Bigg's with black numbered dots. These locator dots are active links to the full Encounter Summary (desktop version only).
CWR Member
photo DOWNLOAD
K35 Cartwheel
For personal use only.
CWR’s Dave Ellifrit took this photograph of 18-year-old, K35, during Encounter #34 on July 24, 2020.
Southern Resident Killer Whale Population: 72*
J pod = 22, K pod = 17, L pod = 33
*The SRKW population is down from last year. Due to the absence of these whales in the Salish Sea for most of the summer of 2020, we do not yet have a comprehensive photo-inventory of individuals for a July census. However, we know that a forty-three-year-old male, L41, was missing in January (see Encounter #2, 2020), and he has not been seen in any SRKW encounters by colleagues on the west coast of Canada this summer. L41 is now presumed dead, and there have been no reports of any newborn SRKWs this year, so tentatively, we estimate the July 1, 2020 population to be 72. We hope to have some SRKW encounters in September if they come into the Salish Sea following salmon migrations, and we will update accordingly by October 1, 2020.
*Why are there two official SRKW count dates?
CWR reports the official annual count of Southern Resident orcas twice each year: July 1 and December 31. Ken Balcomb explains why in this YouTube video of his Superpod 6 presentation. (Watch from 4:43 thru 9:28).
Salish Sea Transboundary Ecosystem
Click map to enlarge.
Salish Sea:
Measures 17,000 sq km (6,564 sq mi) with 7,470 sq km (2,884 sq mi) of coastline; 37 species of mammals, 172 species of birds, 247 species of fish, and 3,000+ species of invertebrate inhabit the region (119 of these are at risk); eight million people make their home in the area
Cartwheel: An orca throws its flukes, caudal peduncle, and rear part of its body from one side to another in at least a 45-degree arc.
See photographs and descriptions of orcas "performing" different physical maneuvers or behaviors. The list provides 1) a name for each of the physical actions, 2) a description of the movement, and 3) in some instances, explains why.
ABOUT Orcas
Orca behaviors explained
What is K25 doing? This a Cartwheel.
J56 Spyhops next to J31
(Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)
How can you tell a male orca calf from a female?
Orcas can be distinguished by variations in the pigmentation in the genital area.
During the Center for Whale Research’s Orca Survey study, 123 whales have been born. Determining a calf’s gender is important in gaining information about the demographics and breeding health of the Southern Resident orca population.
Gender is determined by the different pigment pattern on the underside of the whale. When a whale breaches or rolls over, the belly is often exposed, giving CWR field staff a chance to determine the sex. Fortunately, new mothers tend to roll their calves around on the surface, where researchers can get a good look at the calf's belly and, hopefully, get a photograph.
Male killer whales have an elongated white pattern around their genital slit stretching toward the tail, while a female’s white pattern is more rounded with visible mammary slits (see illustration).
This illustration appears in Killer Whales Second Edition by John K.B. Ford, Graeme M. Ellis, and Kenneth C Balcomb, UBC Press © 2000. Used with permission.
It's a boy! This photograph of newborn, K44, was taken in 2011. Note the elongated white pattern stretching toward his tail.
Orca reproduction
Here are some facts about orca pregnancy and reproduction taken from CWR Field Biologist Michael Weiss's August 19 BLOG on the subject:
-
Orca pregnancies last 18 months, one of the longest gestations of any mammal
-
Newborn calves are around 8 feet long and weigh about 400 lbs
-
Newborn calves suckle for short periods dozens of times a day; their mother's milk is extremely rich, possibly containing 40-60% fat
-
Calves may start experimenting with solid food at a young age but likely do not fully wean until around the age of three
-
Southern Resident orcas have unusually low reproductive output, lower than Northern Resident orcas
-
Approximately 69% of Southern Resident pregnancies result in spontaneous abortion based on work using hormones derived from fecal samples
-
Of the orcas assigned an ID by CWR since 1976, about 1 in 6 died before their first birthday
-
A pregnancy has about a 1 in 5 chance of resulting in a calf that survives for more than a year
-
Low reproductive output points toward reduced prey availability and toxins as the main threats to successful reproduction
-
There is evidence that these two threats interact: toxins become more of a threat when salmon abundance is low, and a whale's body condition is poor
-
Toxins/persistent organic pollutants, like PCBs, are passed from the mother to the calf during gestation and nursing, which could cause pregnancies to fail and young calves to die
-
Spontaneous abortions correlate with hormonal evidence of nutritional stress
-
Controlling for age, females are more likely to reproduce in years following years of high Chinook salmon abundance; the survival of calves (and all Southern Residents) is correlated with salmon abundance.
getting to KNOW THEM
L72 & J35
In each issue of the WHALE Report, we feature one or more Southern Resident orca community members.
L72 // Female - L72 matriline
-
Born 1986, 34-years-old
-
Mother: L43 (Est. 1972-2006), Father: unknown
-
Two male siblings, both deceased: L95 (1996-2016) and L104 (2004-2006)
-
L72 is the mother of one offspring, L105 (male, born 2004; father L57) and a dead neonate in 2010
-
Identify L72 by her bi-laterally symmetrical saddle pattern, open with a deep vertical black line and circular shape near the top; her dorsal fin is tall for her gender and pointy for a SRKW (see Orca Survey ID Guide on CWR Member homepage).
Right side ID photo of L72 from 1987.
Current right side ID photo of L72.
J35 // Female - J17 matriline
-
Born 1998, 21-years-old
-
Mother: J17 (1977-2019), last seen by CWR researchers on April 7, 2019 (Encounter #25)
-
Father: L41 (1977-missing in 2020)
-
Three siblings: J28 (female, 1993-2016), J44 (male, born 2009), and J53 (female, born 2015)
-
Offspring: J47 (male, born 2010) and a calf in 2018 which died; she carried her deceased calf for 17 days before letting it go
-
J35 is tricky to identify; her saddle pattern on both sides is ‘closed’ and free of distinctive scratches, but she has a very slight ‘spray’ of gray coloration along the upper leading edge of the saddle on each side; and, her dorsal fin has no obvious nicks (see Orca Survey ID Guide on CWR Member homepage).
Right side ID photo of J35 from in 1998.
Current right side ID photo of J35.
A look BACK
Looking DOWN on J35 by CWR's Katie Jones
I could FEEL someone watching me.
In 2007, I was kayaking in Haro Strait just out from the Center for Whale Research on the west side of San Juan Island. I was sitting a bit south of the reef in front of the house. I looked further to the south and could see whales heading my way. I decided to sit quietly in my kayak and wait for the whales to see what they would do.
J17 and J28 surfaced just a little way off the bow of my kayak, but no J35. I remember looking around, wondering where she was, and then a strange feeling came over me: I could FEEL someone watching me. Instead of continuing to look around, I looked DOWN. And there was J35 right under my kayak—on her side staring up at me! She only stayed there for a moment before moving on to catch up with her mother and sister. It's a moment I will never forget.
J35 surfacing for a breath next to her breaching mother, J17. (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR, 2013).
Photo Gallery - L72, J35, & Offspring
 L72 SpyhopPhotograph by Michael Weiss |  L105 and L72Photograph by Katie Jones |  K16 and L72Photograph by Dave Ellifrit |
|---|---|---|
 L105 and L116Photograph by Dave Ellifrit |  L105 TaillobPhotograph by Dave Ellifrit |  J35 SpyhopPhotograph by Dave Ellifrit |
 J35 BreachPhotograph by Dave Ellifrit |  J35 BreachPhotograph by Dave Ellifrit |  J47 and J35Photograph by Dave Ellifrit |
 J35 Carrying a FishPhotograph by Dave Ellifrit |  J35 with its Deceased CalfPhotograph by Dave Ellifrit |  J47 BreachPhotograph by Dave Ellifrit |
Meet the entire Center for Whale Research team.
Q: Michael, do you have a favorite SRKW encounter?
A: My favorite encounter is probably from a few years back, when I was watching whales from Lime Kiln. J pod, the K14s, and L87 passed by very close to shore in a tight group. What made it particularly special was that this was the first encounter where I was able to recognize every whale there by sight. Knowing the individuals creates a special kind of connection and recognition that's very powerful and hard to explain.
getting to KNOW US
CWR’s Michael Weiss
Michael was born and raised in Florida, where his interest in marine life began by watching Bottlenose dolphins swim by his house. He received his Bachelor’s degree in biology from Reed College in 2016, following the completion of a thesis on Southern Resident killer whales’ social structure.
He is currently completing his Ph.D. at the University of Exeter in South West England, United Kingdom. His work centers around the evolutionary and conservation consequences of killer whale social structure. He is developing statistical methods for analyzing social structure using the CWR’s long-term dataset and gaining new insights into killer whale behavior using footage from unmanned aerial systems.
Michael Weiss (near the stern) and Dave Ellifrit
aboard a CWR research vessel.
CWR Outreach & Education
The Center for Whale Research works tirelessly and relentlessly advocating for immediate action by politicians and government agencies to reverse the dramatic decline of Chinook salmon stocks in Southern Resident killer whale habitat. At every opportunity, CWR team members speak out boldly in the media concerning the sick and starving SRKWs. We reach out to as many people as possible with focused educational and Take Action messages: through speaking engagements, social media channels, WhaleResearch.com, targeted advertising campaigns, and face-to-face discussions with ORCA SURVEY Outreach & Education Center visitors.
These whales, they’re not doing very well right now, but they’re still here, and they’re going from here to California to Alaska to wherever they have to go to find enough food to eat. [Fighting to remove the dams] is probably the most important project that I’ve undertaken in my life. There’s a lot of opposition, but we’ll prevail.
- CWR’s Ken Balcomb, taken from an interview by Peterson/Hawley Productions (DAMMED TO EXTINCTION)
Action: Speaking Out
August 9, 2019: K5NEWS environment reporter Alison Morrow wrote a story titled Biologist warns it’s ‘past the time’ to act for Southern resident killer whales.
She started her story like this: “Many called it a ‘tour of grief’ when orca J35 or ‘Tahlequah’ captivated the world by pushing her dead calf for a thousand miles over 17 days around the Salish Sea.“ Read the full story with Ken Balcomb's comments >
J35 carrying her dead calf.
Action: Education
The mission of the Center for Whale
Research’s ORCA SURVEY Outreach
& Education Center is to educate and
give back to the public the information and knowledge that CWR, and our colleagues, have gathered during 44 years of research of killer whales (orcas) in the waters surrounding the San Juan Islands.
The ORCA SURVEY Outreach & Education Center is cautiously open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as of August 28 until further notice concerning Governor Inslee’s COVID 19 restrictions.
The ORCA SURVEY Outreach & Education Center opened in Friday Harbor in the Summer of 2018. Since then, close to 14,000 people from across North America and around the globe have visited and learned from knowledgeable CWR staff and volunteers about killer whales and how they can help the struggling population of Southern Resident orcas. Learn about the attractions and activities at the ORCA SURVEY Outreach & Education Center.
During the summer, CWR was pleased to welcome small, socially distanced, masked students of the Salish Sea School (visit their website to learn about their programs) to the ORCA SURVEY Outreach & Education Center. During their visits, students learned about Southern Resident killer whales and were able to do activities like practice their orca ID skills and watch footage from our Aerial Observation Study. We want to thank the Salish Sea School and their students for visiting.
Students from the Salish Sea School masked up and physical distancing and learning about orcas from
ORCA SURVEY Outreach & Education Center
Manager, Katie Jones.
MEMBERSHIP news
thank
you
CWR Members & Supporters
We cannot stress enough how much we appreciate your financial gifts. Honestly, we could not do what we do without you. See examples of your money in action by visiting CWR’s Recent Accomplishments page.
We understand these are challenging times. PLEASE give what you can to help us continue our essential work and advocacy for the Southern Resident orcas.
Ken Balcomb masked up for the times.
There is no more important issue facing the future survival of J, K, and L pods than ensuring that they have enough salmon to survive and reproduce. Restoration of the Snake River system to normative flow is essential for this to happen on a scale that is meaningful for the salmon and the whales, and for the fishermen.
Meanwhile, we are going to focus on support of continuing restoration efforts for salmon in the Elwha River system, where two dams were removed recently to provide the salmon access to its watersheds in the Olympic National Park. The salmon are returning and increasing in numbers each year, and the SRKW are following them (see Encounter #73, 2019). A restored population of Chinook might yield 25,000 BIG salmon, some of which formerly attained weights in excess of 100 pounds!
- Ken Balcomb, CWR Founder and Senior Scientist
Looking toward the future
One of the Center for Whale Research’s immediate goals is to generate operating security for the organization. An essential aspect of this financial planning is fundraising in the areas of memberships and donations, self-driven fundraising efforts by caring individuals and businesses, product sale donations, legacy giving, and the donation of securities. Achieving our financial goals will ensure that CWR is around to study and advocate the Southern Resident orcas for another forty-four years.
Here’s one way that current CWR members can help toward our goal of increasing membership. If you know someone you think would like to learn more about the Southern Resident killer whales, send them the link to this page via email. We hope that they will read, learn, and decide to be like you and support our recovery efforts on behalf of the local orcas.
For those of you who have encouraged others to become a CWR member: THANK YOU.
Fundraising during COVID times
It’s more challenging for sure. Whether you are one person, a couple, a group, or a company/organization, there are still ways to raise money supporting the Southern Resident orcas and Center for Whale Research. Here are some fundraising ideas:
Special Occasions Hosted Online: Celebrate important times in your life by requesting online gift donations to benefit CWR and the families of the Southern Resident orca community.
-
Birthday, Special Anniversary, Retirement
-
Children’s Birthday Challenge
Special Events with Physical Distancing or Online: Fundraising for something you believe in is very rewarding.
-
Percentage of Home Studio Art Sale
-
Online Art Sale
-
GoFundMe Certified Charity Campaign
-
Walk, Run, Bike, or Kayak-athon
-
Green-Climate Cleanup
-
Lemonade Stand or Car Wash
Workplace Initiatives: Supporting meaningful conservation efforts is a great way to show your commitment to a healthier planet.
-
Employee-matching Donations
-
Percentage of Sales Proceeds
-
Employee Achievement
-
Birthday or Milestone Anniversary
Click here to set up your own Facebook Fundraiser.
A few examples of Facebook Birthday Fundraisers benefiting CWR in 2020. Thanks to each one of you who used their birthday to raise money.
-
Anna's Birthday Fundraiser raised USD $1,316
-
Nikki's Birthday Fundraiser raised USD $856
-
Sky's Birthday Fundraiser raised USD $612
Some notes from CWR Members and Donators when giving
These are some of the notes we’ve received during the past few months with CWR membership commitments, membership renewals, donations, and gifts in memory and honor. The comments are a reminder of how important the orcas are to a lot of people. We removed people’s last names for privacy reasons.
Thank you for your words and, again, for your financial contribution.
-
Love ❤️in memory of Mom
-
In memory of Michael
-
Our donation is in memory of our niece Trish who had a loving compassion for saving whales
-
In memory of Clarence
-
In memory of Henry
-
Good work! In memory of Granny (J2)
-
Scarlet (J50) Memorial Campaign (GoFundMe Certified Charity Campaigns)
-
In honor of Denise
-
In honor of the 70th birthday of Betsey! Betsey, thank you for introducing me to the Southern Residents, for all of our wonderful trips to the San Juans, and for working so hard throughout the years to protect these amazing orcas!
-
Donation made through the generosity of Ben and the art collectors group
-
Thank you for your unwavering fight for these magnificent creatures
-
Thank you, CWR, for all the hard work and long hours you put in to continue to protect and take care of all the SRKW and Transient Orcas. I love all the images that you post on your website! In Honor of Princess Angeline (J17)
-
You are amazing and doing such important work. Thank you!
-
Thank you for the continued updates on our local whales and your efforts to protect them while educating the public
-
Thank you for your continuous work on behalf of the local Resident Orca population
-
Keep up the good work!!! Let’s get the DAMS DOWN!!!
-
Thanks for all the great work you do to help our iconic SRKWs!
-
Really appreciate and respect your work. Wish I could give more. Please keep up the good work.
Photo Download
CWR Members personal use only.
K35
Cartwheel
CWR’s Dave Ellifrit took this photograph of 18-year-old, K pod male, K35, during Encounter #34 on July 24, 2020.
Is there something you would like us to cover in an upcoming newsletter?
Please let us know.