New baby spotted west of Whidbey is J Pod’s second birth this year. A tiny head protectively flanked by two adult killer whales was the first sign of a new addition to a pod of endangered southern resident killer whales this week.

The calf, believed to have been born Monday night or Tuesday morning, is the second birth this year for J Pod, one of three pods of southern residents.

“It’s really good news — it has put a smile on our faces,” said Kelley BalcombBartok, researcher with the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Wash.

The new baby, nestled next to its mother, was spotted west of Whidbey Island, where the pod has been for several days. “There’s lots of chum [salmon] in Puget Sound and that’s their favourite food after chinook,” Balcomb-Bartok said.

The mother of the calf is J14, or Samish, which bodes well for the baby’s survival, as four out of five of her calves are still alive. It’s the fourth calf born to southern residents this year and, so far, there have been no deaths, Balcomb-Bartok said.

The birth brings the number of southern residents up to 88, not counting Lolita, an L Pod whale who has been at Miami Seaquarium since her capture in 1972.

The northern residents, with about 230 whales in 16 pods, are listed as threatened.A draft recovery strategy for resident killer whales released this summer by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans fingers environmental contamination, dwindling supplies of salmon and physical and noise disturbances as threats to the whales.

This year, a few members of L Pod have already been spotted off the coast of California, Balcomb-Bartok said. That’s earlier than any of the whales have been known to swim south in previous years, although, last year, L and K Pods were seen off the coast of California between January and March.

“It’s a mix of science and personal feelings and anthropomorphism, but maybe they’re sending a small group down to see how the fishing is,” Balcomb-Bartok said.

The attraction last year appeared to be newly restored chinook runs in the Sacramento River delta, he said.

© 2007 Times Colonist

More information and photos at: Centre for Whale Research