Southern resident orca calf believed to be dead, researchers say

Members of the southern resident orca J-pod are pictured on Oct. 23, 2025. (Courtesy: Center for Whale Research)

Researchers believe an endangered southern resident orca calf first spotted in September has died.

The Washington-based Center for Whale Research first laid eyes on the J-pod calf, dubbed J64, with its mother J42 in the Georgia Strait on Sept. 23.

At the time, the organization said the orca appeared well-integrated into the pod, but researchers remained only cautiously optimistic as survival is difficult for southern resident calves in the early days, and J42 was a first-time mother.

The team caught up with the J-pod again on Oct. 23 near Village Bay on B.C.’s Mayne Island with the hopes of checking in on the new calf, but were instead confronted with the sad news.

“We found J42 and held the camera trigger down while waiting for J64 to pop up behind her. Unfortunately, J64 did not surface after J42,” the Center for Whale Research wrote in an encounter summary published this weekend.

“We hoped maybe it was nursing or something, but we kept seeing J42 surface repeatedly, and there was no calf with her. After a few long dives and still no calf, we had to conclude that J64 did not survive and was now gone.”

Further observation of the other members of the pod revealed no sign of the calf, the organization added.

“Based on this encounter, we are confirming that J64 is most likely deceased,” researchers wrote.

The Center for Whale Research will continue to check for the calf in future encounters, as it usually considers a whale to be dead after three consecutive encounters without a sighting.

“However, unlike adult whales, which may travel a significant distance from other whales for extended periods, we would not expect a newborn to be on its own for any length of time,” the centre explained.

“This is J42’s first confirmed calf, and mortality rates for young calves, especially those born to first-time mothers, are incredibly high in the southern resident population.”

Factors in high mortality among southern resident orca calves include poor nutritional status and toxins from the mother being transferred to the calf during gestation and lactation, according to the researchers.

Unlike transient orcas, also known as Biggs killer whales, which eat seals and other marine mammals, southern resident orcas eat exclusively fish, primarily chinook salmon.

“Southern residents need healthy, abundant chinook salmon populations to sustain themselves and the calves they raise if this population is to survive,” the organization said.

There are approximately 74 endangered southern resident orcas living in the region in three family units, known as the J, K and L pods.

Two other J-pod calves born this year, J62 and J63, are reportedly alive and well.