This year’s census will show 74 whales - two more than last year, thanks to three births along with the one death. That gives them time to draw on all observations up until then. The official census of Southern Residents reports the population as of July 1 each year, although Ken and his associates must complete their report under a federal contract by Oct. It was not until this month that Ken’s staff was able to get a good look at the whales during six separate encounters that identified Marina’s three offspring along with their two offspring - but no Marina. She was later missing from observations by Canadian biologists who encountered her family members in the western Strait of Juan de Fuca.Īs in recent years - as opposed to historically - the L pod whales have not been spending much time in Puget Sound during the summer. 27 in Swanson Channel, north of the San Juan Islands, Ken told me. Marina was last seen by CWR biologists on Feb. In 2011, Marina’s son Mystic (L115) stayed close to his mother. The annual census of the endangered Southern Resident killer whales, submitted yesterday to the federal government, shows three births and one death from mid-2020 to mid-2021.Īlong with the new census report, Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research sadly confirmed the death of L47, a 47-year-old female named Marina, who has been apparently missing since early summer.
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