Remembering L128
A small whale that left a big imprint
L90 and L128 off the Lime Kiln Lighthouse on September 15, 2024 - Taken by Kendra Nelson
The critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales are a vulnerable population on the brink of extinction. One of the multitude of issues they face is high pregnancy failures and calf mortality rates due to nutritional stress from lack of food, as well as toxins and toxic offload.
Whenever a new calf is born into the population it represents a glimmer of hope, but should always be met with cautious optimism as many calves do not ultimately survive.
This sadly was the case with the most recent calf born into the Southern Resident killer whale population, L128.
Photo by Tamara Kelley
The Discovery of L128
During mid-September, all three Southern Resident killer whale pods, J Pod, K Pod, and L Pod entered into the Salish Sea forming a Super Pod. The whales made their way north to the Fraser River where researchers were able to document and account for many of the individuals.
On the evening of September 14, 2024, the Southern Residents made their way south past San Juan Island. The following day on the 15th, a large group of whales was seen exiting toward the ocean in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, presumably the Southern Residents.
Discovery of the newborn calf L128 at Lime Kiln State Park. Photo by Ashley Whitman
While all the Southern Residents had left, a shore-based whale watcher reported a female orca and calf traveling north off Lime Kiln State Park. Having seen this report, Orca Conservancy staff Tamara Kelley, Board Secretary Kendra Nelson, and colleague Fred DeNisco made their way to County Park to intercept the mystery whale and calf.
Ashley Whitman, the person who made the initial report of the female and calf was able to capture ID shots, and to the surprise of the entire whale community, the female was identified and confirmed to be L90, a member of L Pod. Notably, L90 had never had a successful pregnancy or calf to researchers’ knowledge, and if confirmed, this new calf would make L90 a first-time mother.
Once the Orca Conservancy team arrived at County Park, they were able to locate L90 and the calf quickly. They also scanned around looking for additional whales that could have possibly been in the area. They were not able to locate any other individuals besides L90 and the calf, who made their way north. About an hour later the two were returning back south, and the OC team headed off to Lime Kiln State Park in hopes of getting closer looks at mom and the new calf.
By this point in time, multiple research agencies were now on the water including Center for Whale Research, SR3, Wild Orca, and NOAA, to gather data on the newest calf.
The OC team arrived at the park ahead of the mom and calf and watched as the two approached close to shore, with the young calf frolicking and getting pushed around. The calf appeared to look quite lumpy and bumpy, which is typical of a newborn calf.
After the pair passed us traveling south, they made it to Land Bank before turning back around heading north past Lime Kiln once again. This pattern continued a few more times, ultimately flipping back north and south and passing the lighthouse a total of 4 times, giving the OC team some incredible looks.
The following day researchers were back on scene with the mom and calf, and the Center confirmed L90 to be the mother based on drone footage of it nursing, and they designated the calf the alphanumeric ID L128. Researchers also noted that they had documented L90 without a calf at the mouth of the Fraser on the 13th, and determined that the calf was born on September 14th, making it a day old when it was first discovered.
For the next several days, L90 and L128 made their way back and forth through Haro Strait, until finally exiting on September 19th.
While it isn’t entirely unusual for a mother and calf to separate from their pod for brief periods of time, the case of L90 and L128 was quite peculiar in the sense that they were so far away from the rest of the family and for several days on end. Orcas are communal animals, and often times family members and other pod members contribute to raising a calf, so for a mother and new calf to be away for so long was strange, to say the least, and it is not understood why this occurred.
The Decline of L128
Following the departure of L90 and L128 from Haro Strait, researchers with the Center for Whale Research encountered L Pod on October 5th. During their encounter, they observed a small and severely emaciated calf traveling alongside L83 Moonlight, while L90 was foraging nearby. Researchers confirmed that the calf was L128 through eye patch photos, and ruled out the possibility of a new calf.
The researcher who documented the whales, Mark Malleson, depicts a tragic scene where he observed L83 approach the vessel with L128 limp and draped across her rostrum. He noted that at one point it had appeared that the calf had stopped breathing. L83 jiggled the calf as if she were desperately trying to revive it. He saw the calf take a faint breath and return to the side of L83. At that point, he decided to depart due to the heaviness of the situation.
Photo by Kendra Nelson
The next day the Center was back with L Pod again, only this time L90, L83, and L128 were not located. The Center hesitated to declare L128 as missing or deceased based on the need for more data and encounters. Since that that time, L Pod has been seen and L90 documented without L128 confirming the expected loss of the calf.
Photogrammetry research conducted by SR3 showed during their encounters with L90 and L128 that L90 was in “normal” body condition for a female Southern Resident her age, while L128 appeared to be quite small and vulnerable. L128 was measured to be 7ft in length, which is the smallest calf in the SR3 dataset, backing up the Center’s assessment that the calf was just a few days old. Worth noting, in previous datasets, L90 had been formerly listed in “poor” body condition for multiple years in a row, and was finally removed from the “Whales of Concern” list in the summer of 2024, prior to the birth of L128.
The loss of L128 follows the loss of another calf last winter, J60. In the case of both J60 and L128, the calves appeared to be severely emaciated and were seen traveling with females that were not their mothers. While the reasons for this are not fully understood, one likely theory is that it may be an indication of the mothers struggling to nurse, and the calf is being passed along to other females to help. But ultimately, if the calf cannot nurse it will not survive.
When asked about the possible trend of mothers’ inability to nurse, Orca Conservancy’s Chief Scientist Dr. David Bain stated, “Even when the Southern Resident killer whale population was on the rise, it was common to see nursing issues and calf decline with first-time mothers.” In the case of both L128 and J60, whose mother was determined to be J46 by the Center, they were the first documented living calf born to the two females. Orcas are some of the most polluted marine mammals in the world, with toxic pollution being stored in their fatty tissues. When a female gives birth, much of the toxins stored in her body get offloaded to the new calf through birth and nursing. It’s also quite possible that the toxins combined with nutritional stress create nursing challenges for first-time mothers. This is even a trend that has been documented in other ecotypes such as transient or Bigg’s killer whales, as was the case with T75B2A which had been passed around amongst different females before ultimately declining and disappearing. Much like J60 and L128, the determined mother of T75B2A was a first-time mother, but unlike the new Resident mothers, was incredibly young for her age which may have also been a contributing factor to her potential inability to nurse.
As researchers and conservationists, we fully understand the harsh reality of the Southern Residents and what it means to work with such a vulnerable population. Despite that fact, we can’t help but feel connected to them. The power they have over those who are fortunate to see them is palpable. In the end, even if we expect the worst of news, every loss still hurts. You can’t help but love them, and this was the case with the Orca Conservancy team and L128.
Photo by Tamara Kelley