Killer whale dies
Paul Cottrell of Canada’s federal fisheries department said they were alerted to the whale carcass on Thursday and their officials found the dead female on Friday morning. Much of her skin was gone, Cottrell told media, leaving him to believe that she has been dead in the water for some time.
The young female’s body was taken to Vancouver where a necropsy will be performed to determine how she died and what pod she was from. There is a chance she could be a transient killer whale (they are also known as orca whales) but there are three pods living permanently in local waters.
The three southern resident pods, “J,” “K” and “L” pods, that live in B.C. and Washington State waters have collectively had nine calves born to them since December of 2014, bring their population to 85.
Despite these births the southern resident pods remain endangered and their numbers were once far higher. The danger comes from a lack of food (Chinook salmon is the main food source) pollution and noise. Scientists will be particularly interested to learn the cause of the whale’s death.
The mortality rate for newborn killer whales is high and many calves do not survive the first year. However, the age of the dead whale has yet to be determined.
