(L41, Northwest Marine Fisheries Center photo) Just days after West Seattle whale-watchers enjoyed multiple orca visits, sad news: Another Southern Resident Killer Whale is missing. Another southern resident orca, L41, is feared dead, according to the Center for Whale Research. Deborah Giles, a research scientist with University of Washington’s Center for Conservation Biology and research director for the nonprofit Wild Orca, said that made Mega an important member of the population. We hope to have this fixed soon. Comments are welcome while open. L41, with an adoption name Mega, travelled with his mom and sisters in a subgroup of L pod that became known as the L12s, named after his presumed grandmother, who was the likely mother of L11. He is the oldest living southern resident orca male. coast. This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. A 43-year-old male orca known as L41 has gone missing and may be dead, further depleting the endangered population of southern resident killer whales that live off the B.C. We have a weekly Western Canada newsletter written by our B.C. Poll: Jay Inslee leads Loren Culp in Washington governor's race; Biden far ahead of Trump, Seattle City Council votes to override Mayor Jenny Durkan's vetoes of police and public-safety changes to 2020 budget, Coronavirus daily news updates, September 22: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the world, Proposed King County budget includes new sales tax for housing, 450 job losses, Seattle is an 'anarchist' city, along with Portland and New York, Trump administration says, according to the Center for Whale Research. We are hopeful that L41 is alive somewhere and returns to the subgroup, but he did live to a ripe old age and fathered more baby whales than any other whale in the community. “A decline across consecutive years was of some concern, but at that point he was still within the condition range we have measured him to be in over the years,” Durban wrote in an email. The orcas are struggling for survival against three main threats: lack of adequate food, particularly chinook salmon; vessel noise and disturbance by boats; and contaminants. It will be extremely difficult to monitor the demographic vigor of the L12s if they do not come into the study area, and if this indicator male is not present. However, the Center for Whale Research also noted there is some good news within the pod: The centre confirmed that an orca calf born last year, L124, was seen again. The whales live in a matriarchy. Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. “It’s pretty extreme, you have a couple of males producing a lot of offspring,” Ford said in an interview. ©2020 FOX Television Stations, until WED 5:00 PM PDT, North Coast, Central Coast, LIVE MAP: COVID-19 Cases in Washington, Around the World, Kirkland police release suspects' descriptions in deadly shooting at Houghton Beach Park, WWE legend Road Warrior Animal passes away, Remembering Harold Moss: Tacoma mourns the loss of a pivotal man in the city's history, Berkeley may be first in nation to ban big groceries from selling junk food at checkout lines, Johnson & Johnson begins late-stage study of first single-shot coronavirus vaccine, Boeing 787 consolidation could mean 10,000+ jobs, Report: Boeing gearing up to move 787 production out of Everett, Group of dads tackle, restrain sex offender accused of peeping at teen in Cracker Barrel bathroom, Deputies make 21 arrests in Oregon wildfire evacuation zones, 'Sometimes you've got to get coached up:' Seahawks head coach apologies for mask violation after NFL fines.

"His death would be a blow to the struggling local orca population, bringing the population down to just 72 whales. The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only, and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times. Audio for this article is not available at this time. “Even if he didn’t come out of the water so you could see his saddle patch, he was easy to recognize,” Giles said. Photo by Mark Malleson, CWR.
Also available in French and Mandarin. He was a classically beautiful orca bull, with a towering dorsal fin, rising straight without a waver from his back. But it’s still sad news, “as any of us can relate to [like with] family members, no matter how old they are, they all die too soon.”. I am totally just not giving up.”. Date: January 30, 2020 A personalized adoption certificate with a 3" x 5" photo of your whale. A bright spot is that researchers saw L124, also known as Tofino, a newborn first spotted in January 2019, alive and well last week.