Birth of baby orca confirmed

FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash. – The Center for Whale Research says a baby orca, believed to be about 2 weeks old, has been sighted off San Juan Island.

The little killer whale’s birth was confirmed Sunday when the entire so-called southern resident whale population swam in to look for food on the west side of the island, said Kelley Balcomb-Bartok, the center’s director of development and outreach.

Balcomb-Bartok was among researchers who went out in a 19-foot boat and saw the new whale.

The new birth puts the southern resident population – the J, K and L pods – at 87 whales. The new whale belongs to L pod, a family group.

The gender of the baby is unknown, but researchers are confident its mother is L83, who was born July 27, 1990. The baby has been named L110.

Balcomb-Bartok said there are 43 orcas in L pod, 25 in J pod and 19 in K pod. The birth had been reported about two weeks ago by reliable observers along the southern coast of Vancouver Island, he said.

The resident orca pods returned to Western Washington inland waters in July after being in the Pacific Ocean since late last year. L pod spent most of the winter off the West Coast. Members of K pod were spotted off San Francisco during the winter. J pod can be spotted in the Puget Sound area almost any time of year.

One young orca in K pod vanished last fall, and is believed to be dead, the center has reported. But two calves in L and J pods appear to be doing well.