A belated Christmas present: southern resident orcas welcome a new calf

In between Christmas and New Year’s, as we gathered around our loved ones and celebrated the holidays, the orcas in J Pod, one of the Southern Resident groups that live off the Washington coast, had something of their own to celebrate.

Just after Christmas, people observed a new orca calf for the first time, and thought to be no more than a few days old. The calf is the first born into J Pod since 2022, and was a welcome end-of-year surprise. This raises the total southern resident population to just shy of 80, which is comprised of the J, K, and L pods.

Although the news is good, this calf is not out of the woods yet. Survival is not always a guarantee for newborn whales, particularly because of the challenges that southern resident orcas face. Water pollution, a diminished salmon supply, and vessel traffic and noise are all things orcas have to overcome. We need to give this calf the best chance at survival so the southern resident population can thrive.

The more we can do to protect southern resident orcas, the better, and we know one of the best ways to do that is to limit their level of interaction with ships. Thankfully, in 2025, a law will go into effect that will require recreational vessels to keep a 1,000 yard distance from orca pods, giving them the space that they need.

In the long-run, restoring Chinook salmon populations by tearing down dams on the Snake River can provide J pod’s future calves with the food they’ll need to thrive.

To read more about this story and the newborn calf, click here.