#southern resident killer whales

[orca-sketcher]

31 Days of Southern Residents Day 14: J27 Blackberry, an adult male born in 1991.

[trua23]

The residents

[beandrawings]

In loving memory of Tokitae ❤️

[cipher-the-sidhe]

NEW BABY SPOTTED WITH J40 SUTTLES!!!

This is not a drill!!! New J pod babyyyyy (spotted for the first time yesterday so likely only a few days old, reported by the Center for Whale Research)

*crying, wailing, doin a little dance etc etc*

( Photo credit to Maya Sears )

[semiotomatics]

NEW CALF IN J POD THIS IS NOT A DRILL THERE'S BEEN A NEW J POD CALF SPOTTED!!! 😭😭😭

[cetacean-central]

Unfortunately new research is showing the southern residents are quite inbred, this is impacting their recovery :(

[endkillerwhalecaptivity]

Little J-59, the calf born to J-37 / Hy’shka last year, has received their name; 

Sxwyeqólh (pronounced: Swh'ee-ah-Kosh. You can hear it pronounced here), which means "Reason for Hope Child". 

They received their name during a traditional ceremony held by the Samish Nation on June 24th. 

Photo by the Center for Whale Research. 

[leoparduscolocola]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Orca Conservancy (@orcaconservancy)

new sighting of one of the most beloved and oldest Southern Resident orcas, L25 Ocean Sun! :D

[annah-rabbit-art]

killer whale oc or whatever

[snini-9]

J59 Confirmed Female!!

On May 26, the Center for Whale Research staff encountered J pod during a photo-ID and aerial observation survey. The whales were very social, with lots of rolling both under and at the surface. During this encounter, the team managed to capture photographs and drone video of the ventral side of the pod’s youngest member, J59. From this, the team was able to determine that J59 is a female.

Having another female is good news for the southern residents; the population’s growth is largely limited by the number of reproductively aged females. While one calf won’t save the population, we hope that J59 can grow to adulthood and contribute to future generations of southern residents.

Credit to the Center for Whale Research 

[killerwhaleartist]

One of the greatest accomplishments and milestones, as an artist, is finishing your first ever mural. I was commissioned to come down to Penn Cove, WA and paint a piece of Tokitae that would send a message. Many years ago, in 1970, 80 whales were rounded up in Penn Cove. 7 of these whales would be taken for a life of captivity, Tokitae included. 5 orcas would drown in the capture process and their bodies would be cut open and filled with rocks so as to sink them. Their bodies were secretly disposed of to prevent them being added to the tally of whales caught during this process. Throughout the years, each orca taken from the captured died a premature death. None reaching their average life expectancy. All except for one: Tokitae. Despite some of the most deplorable conditions known to man and orca captivity history, Tokitae managed to outlive her kin. She has been surviving in what is known as “The Whale Bowl” in Miami Seaquarium. This tank is falling apart, doesn’t keep up to code, and is slowly turning into Tokitae’s tomb. It is hoped that the Dolphin Company, Florida officials, and veterinarian staff will do the right thing and bring Tokitae home to the Puget Sound. Let her live the rest of her days in a seapen, retired from entertainment and a lifetime of mistreatment.

If you’d like to visit this mural, go to Scenic Heights on Whidbey Island. Follow the road and look for the house with orcas!

[orca-sketcher]

InkTober 2023 day 1 of 31 Southern Resident orca’s! Only 14 more whales to draw before I have drawn all living whales. And then it’s on to the ones no longer with us.

This is J46 Star.

[trua23]

A southern resident spy hops in the Salish Sea

[lnloch]

It's the two year anniversary of Saving Seymour, and not only have I just finished the first draft of my next bigger, badder novel...the orca who inspired Seymour is now apparently being released to a sea pen in the waters she was stolen from decades ago. I've written a bit about what Toki's return home means in the above piece. Keep your eyes peeled for more second novel stuff soon...

[cipher-the-sidhe]

Meet L-112: Sooke. This young female Southern Resident Orca died of blunt force trauma, cause unknown. Learning from her tragically young death can do a lot of good for further preserving and protecting her critically endangered living family in L, K, and J pods.

This big boy is L-8, Moclips! You can’t really get a good idea of how big this 18 year old bull was, even with me standing dwarfed next to his skeleton, but he was HUGE!

(Skeletons on display at the Whale Museum on San Juan island, WA)

[gucci-vodka]

I don’t know if everybody’s heard but Lolita the Orca(Also known as Tokitae) is going to be released back into the wild by Miami Seaquarium - where she’s been for over 50 years. It’s believed that her mother, who now would be around 95 years old - could still be alive. She is going back home to her Resident Souther Killer Whale Pod :)