Excitement surrounds baby Southern Residents, as scientists fear 'dried up twigs' on family tree

Each new birth within the Southern Resident killer whale population is met with fanfare, and for good reason.

The famed Southern Residents have been listed as an endangered species in both the U.S. and Canada. Their numbers were nearing 100 a few decades ago – lately the total population has hovered in the mid-70s.

While numbers are important, and new births deserve attention, scientists are also paying close attention to another number: how many matrilines, or lineages tracked through a female, remain.

"We have lots of dead-end matrilines that are a female and nothing but male offspring," said Dave Ellifrit, a researcher with the Center for Whale Research. "So, they’re dried up twigs on the family tree.

It’s a concern, as the Southern Resident killer whales are a matriarchal society. Older females lead pods, teaching younger orcas how to fish and where to find Chinook salmon – their primary source of food.

In recent years many reproductive age female orcas within the Southern Residents haven’t always had babies. Others are having pregnancies less often than decades past, while some have had failed pregnancies. The lack of female orcas is a concern.
 

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Researchers find cautious optimism with recent visits by Southern Resident orcas

From first light until long after sundown, Monika Wieland Shields was busy at work spotting Southern Resident Killer whales in late May.

Dave Ellifrit has been involved with the Center for Whale Research for more than 30 years. He’s the group’s photo identification expert – meaning he’s spent decades tracking the health of the Southern Residents.

"Every single whale I’ve known I remember," he explained, walking FOX 13 through the state of the Southern Residents.

The Southern Residents consist of three pods: J-Pod, which appears to be the healthiest with a mix of both male and female orcas. L-Pod and K-Pod are struggling in comparison.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t good news. In fact, K-Pod had it’s first successful birth in more than a decade this season. Still, a number of matrilines within various pods will die off in the coming years as the sole survivors of those matrilines are male.

"We lost K-21 last year," said Ellifrit. "He was the sole survivor of his matriline."

It’s the same thing over here," he said motioning to a family tree of L-Pod consisting of several large posters. "This whole page is going to die out because those two whales up there are sons – so that whole page will die out."

Many of the posters Ellifrit is point out are littered with gray boxes – tombstones as he calls them – marking the death of individual orcas. 

It’s a reality of the work he has been doing for decades. He gets an up-close look at the Southern Residents, but he’s also had a front row seat to warning signs of population decline.

However, there’s been excitement this season – perhaps even cautious optimism. 

In addition to K-Pod’s new calf, J-Pod made a rare early appearance in late May near San Juan Island. That visit brought some additional news: J-59, that pod’s latest calf, is a girl.

J-59 offers hope. A single whale won’t save a species, but they can make an impact if they grow up to become a reproductive whale.

Dr. Michael Weiss, the research director for the Center for Whale Research, had arrived on the island in May to perform research with transient killer whales – a different species – but rushed out to the water and spent several days with J-Pod instead.

"We’ve run out to try to make sure everyone’s there and look good," said Dr. Weiss. "We’re filling up SD cards full of behavioral data, trying to catalog it all and make sure we know what we have filling out whale sexes and everything. It’s been a bit crazy-making but in a good way."

In the old days, a late May or early June arrival would have been normal. However, since roughly 2013 the Southern Resident killer whales have spent less and less time in their traditional hunting grounds. The "rare" moment in time with killer whales in May and June sent researchers into overdrive.

"This is sort of a blip in the other direction," said Monika Wieland Shields, the director of Orca Behavior Institute. "It’s been super concerning to see them kind of abandon the area they depended on for feasting this time of year."

"The underlying fact is that we haven’t fixed a lot of the real issues underlying the Chinook salmon decline, and ultimately the whales decline," said Weiss. "But it’s hard not to feel excited and a little hopeful when they’re here, they’re on the west side and they’re in their social groups. We’re letting ourselves get excited."

Ellifrit admits that excitement can be hard to muster after following the pods for so long.

He remembers years when 8 calves would come in a single year, when matrilines weren’t in danger of becoming the "dried up twigs" he fears. In fact, the headlines of the last few baby booms often overlooked the warning signs of the times researchers are facing now.

"There was a lot of press and stuff about it," he said of the last time a number of babies were born. "Well, yeah but 3 of those calves died. And, you know, 3 were males. It’s always nice to have a bouncing baby whale – but that little bouncing baby whale has to grow up and it has to reproduce."