Orca born to L pod
There’s a tiny new member of the L pod of endangered southern resident orcas, scientists reported this week.
A calf, L129, was spotted Monday by Center for Whale Research biologists traveling with the L55 matriline in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It’s unclear who momma is, but the calf was alongside both L55 and her daughter, L103.
“We’re on baby watch now, which is exciting,” said Michael Weiss, research director with the center, which tracks the orca population. “It’s great to have a new whale in the population. But it’s also tense because we don’t know if the next time we see this group if the calf will still be there.”
Biologists got eyes on all 19 members of the “greater L4s,” a subgroup of L pod more commonly seen in the inland waters of the Salish Sea. The energetic young calf was seen staying close to L55, surfacing with L103 at one point, scientists described in an encounter report.
L55 is estimated to be 49 years old. While pregnancies in the late 40s aren’t unheard of, they are rarely carried to term, according to the center.
If L103 is the mom, it would be her second calf. She had a son, L123, in 2015. Having grandma L55 around can also improve chances of calf survival, but it’s not a “magic bullet,” Weiss said.
Survival for southern resident orcas in their first year of life is essentially a coin flip, Weiss said.
Other killer whale populations in the region, such as the northern residents, who can be found around northern Vancouver Island and southeast Alaska, have higher overall reproductive rates, Weiss said. This means they are able to produce more viable calves, Weiss said, due to higher pregnancy success, higher calf survival or some combination of the two.
The northern residents’ demographic composition has been used as a baseline for one of the criteria for removing the southern residents from Endangered Species Act listing.
Orcas under 10 years old tend to make up nearly half of the northern resident population but only 15% of the southern residents in 2025.
Southern residents’ survival is tied to the abundance of their preferred food, chinook salmon, Weiss said, and a lot of the chinook salmon runs the southern residents rely on have collapsed or are in decline.
A lack of food compounds with pollutants that magnify in the food chain and underwater ship noise that makes it harder for the orcas to find food by echolocation.
A 2017 paper found that more than two-thirds of the southern residents’ pregnancies end in loss because of a lack of food. It may be getting worse. Inbreeding also is hurting the southern residents’ chances for recovery.
L129, likely just days old when seen this week, is the first calf documented in L Pod in more than a year. In September 2024, first-time mom L90 had her first calf, L128. Just a month later the baby was seen ailing, and then it wasn’t seen again.
As of the Center for Whale Research’s latest census, 74 southern resident orcas remained.
After the census concluded, scientists saw J36 pushing a dead young calf. Her sister J42 was seen with a young calf just days later. The calf didn’t make it, Weiss said.
In December, K pod showed up with calf K47.
Scientists need to see the L pod calf again to determine sex and who the mother is.