Baby orca spotted in Puget Sound pod

SEATTLE – Whale researchers are celebrating the newest member of a population of endangered killer whales that frequent Puget Sound in Washington state.

The baby orca spotted over the weekend in waters off San Juan is the population’s first calf born since 2012. It was swimming between two adult females, most likely the orca’s mom and aunt, said Ken Balcomb with the Center for Whale Research, which keeps a census of the whales.

The orca is probably less than a week old, he said. Researchers don’t know yet whether it’s a boy or a girl. The baby is a member of the L pod, one of three extended families of whales that are closely tracked and photographed by researchers.

The baby is reason to celebrate, Balcomb said, but he cautioned that orcas are still struggling to recover because of pollution, lack of food and other reasons.

The newborn orca brings the number of killer whales in the Puget Sound population to 79, Balcomb said. Two whales were confirmed missing and presumed dead this year. The unique population, known as southern resident killer whales, numbered more than 140 animals decades ago but declined to a low of 71 in the 1970s when dozens of the mammals were captured live to be displayed at marine parks and aquariums across the country.