The Center for Whale Research (CWR) shared heartbreaking news through a recent social media update. Their researcher, Mark Malleson, encountered a distressing sight near Sombrio Point in the Strait of Juan de Fuca on October 3. J31, an endangered southern resident killer whale, was spotted with a deceased newborn calf alongside her close family members.
The CWR team is uncertain about the specifics surrounding the calf’s passing—whether it was a full-term birth, the gender of the calf, or if it was stillborn. This loss is a poignant event for the already vulnerable killer whale community. J31 had previously been seen carrying a deceased calf back in 2016.
Born in 1995, J31 has only one surviving offspring, her daughter J56, who came into the world in 2019. The CWR emphasized the critical importance of each successful birth within the small southern resident population. The struggle for these whales to reproduce and thrive is compounded by various factors, with the scarcity of their preferred food source—nutrient-rich Chinook salmon—being a significant challenge.
