In September, a ray of hope shone upon the southern resident killer whale population, when researchers spotted a newborn orca calf in J Pod. However, those hopes appear to have been dashed.
The addition of the baby cetacean, named J64, was a major milestone for the dwindling population, which has only 73 whales remaining, with only 27 of those in J pod.
Though the first few months of life are fraught with danger for an orca, researchers were optimistic. “This calf was where it was supposed to be, right alongside its mom. It was pretty socially well integrated, a lot of young females were spending a lot of time around this calf,” CWR research director Michael Weiss told the CBC.
However, as Oregon Public Broadcasting reports, when nearly the entire population of southern resident killer whales were spotted gathered in the Puget Sound on Sunday, researchers did not see J64, leading them to believe the creature did not survive.
“We kept seeing J42 surface repeatedly, and there was no calf with her,” wrote the nonprofit Center for Whale Research on Saturday. “After a few long dives and still no calf, we had to conclude that J64 did not survive and was now gone.”