Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Newborn killer whale in Puget Sound

|
|
 
  
Published: Nov. 9, 2007 at 3:51 PM
Advertisement

SEATTLE, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- An Orca pod in Puget Sound in Washington State has a new arrival, a calf named J43.

The baby killer whale was first spotted Tuesday, and government whale observers confirmed the birth on Wednesday, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported. The calf is the fifth born to J14, also known as Samish, a 33-year-old female.

Orcas, or killer whales, are assigned identifiers that include a letter representing the pod and a number giving their rank within it.

The Puget Sound Orcas spend the summer. In late fall, they move out to sea and travel up and down the U.S. West Voast until late spring.

Numbers of Orcas in the sound dropped in recent years because of a decline in one of their main food sources, salmon, boat traffic and toxic pollutants. Those are especially dangerous because they build up in females' fat and are transmitted to their calves during gestation and nursing.

Experts say that J43 is lucky to be Samish's fifth calf because the mother has had "a chance to offload a lot of her toxins on the other calves," said Susan Berta, one of the founders of Orca Network.

Recommended Stories
© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Science News Stories
1 of 29
Members of the Army's Old Guard place flags at Arlington National Ceremtery
View Caption
U.S. flags are seen in the rucksack of a soldier with the Army's 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard, as he places flags at gravesites in Arlington National Cemetery as part of the Flags-In Memorial Day ceremony on May 24, 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. American flags were placed at each of the more than 220,000 grave markers in honor of those who served and Memorial Day. UPI/Kevin Dietshc
fark
Crimefighter who rides a chopper. In Afghanistan. And is a female. Don't mess with her
Daily Show writer partners with Slate to crowdsource ideas for amending and rewriting the Constitution....
Canada's national archives is being dismantled and scattered, who needs to remember the history...
Man disappears in Niagara Falls whirlpool; presumed to be spinning in his grave
Woman swallows toothbrush while brushing her teeth. Surgeons remove it before Oral B becomes Anal...
MSNBC Host Chris Hayes: I'm 'Uncomfortable' calling fallen military 'Heroes'