‘Reason for hope’: Newborn calf spotted cruising with B.C.’s endangered orcas

‘Reason for hope’: Newborn calf spotted cruising with B.C.’s endangered orcas

Published 12:30 pm Wednesday, June 17, 2026

A month-long art project honouring all 75 of B.C.’s endangered Southern Resident killer whales has an unexpected addition to make.

Researchers spotted a new calf on June 14, with the family group known as L pod. The newborn has been designated L130, and researchers have yet to confirm its maternity, said Washington-based Center for Whale Research.

“We’re thrilled to welcome a new calf during our 50th year working with this endangered population,” said the organization’s social media post. “Every calf is a reason for hope.”

For June’s Orca Action Month, 75 life-sized dorsal fins have surfaced across the Pacific Northwest – including two in Victoria – organized by Washington-based non-profit Orca Behavior Institute.

Created by 75 artists using materials such as plywood, cardboard, through to metal and glass, each one represents a member of the endangered Southern Resident killer whales.

With news of the new calf, the population now stands at 76.

The community art project aims to inspire people to find out more about the plight of the species, which has been listed as endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act for over two decades.

According to Orca Behavior Institute, over 40 Southern Resident orcas from J- and L-pod cruised into the inland waters of the Salish Sea for the first time in 62 days on June 14.

“The group did one lap of their old standard summer circuit, heading east in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, up Haro Strait and into the Strait of Georgia, and then coming down Boundary Pass back into Haro the next morning,” the organization said in a social media post.

Some of the June 15 action in the Haro Strait was caught on camera by The Whale Museum on San Juan Island, orcas from L pod cruising by, some breaching and tail slapping.

Visits from the Southern Residents used to be an almost daily occurrence from the end of May to early September, notes the Orca Behavior Institute.

“But in recent years, weeks and even months-long absences have become the new summer normal,” they said. “It’s not at all unexpected for them to take one look around and head right back out in the summer, which, with no reports of them on June 16, it seems likely they may have done.”

The organization suspects the whales have found a more reliable food source out at Swiftsure Bank, where all three pods now spend the bulk of the summer months.

“One look at the current Chinook test catch numbers from the Albion test fishery on the Fraser River, and it’s obvious the abundant runs they used to follow through the San Juan Islands are no longer there for them,” they said.

More information about the plight of the southern residents, plus a map of all the fin locations, can be found on the Orca Behavior Institute’s website: www.orcabehaviorinstitute.org/southern-resident-killer-whales.

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