It's a girl: New endangered orca calf identified as female

Southern Resident killer whale population dips Researchers say there are only 73 Southern Resident killer whales remaining in the wild, a decline from the year before.

Researchers with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) are celebrating the news that a young southern resident killer whale calf has been identified as female.

The calf, known as K45, was born in April to mother K20 and was the first calf born into the K pod since 2011, according to the DFO.

K45's gender was confirmed when researchers with DFO's Marine Mammal Conservation Program were investigating K pod near Swiftsure Bank off the southwest coast of Vancouver Island.

K pod is one of three pods that make up the southern resident killer whale population, with the other two being J pod and L pod.

The DFO says that it's welcome news that K45 is female.

"While every new southern resident killer whale is celebrated, females are especially important as they are essential to the ongoing and future health of this endangered iconic Pacific species," said the DFO in a social media post Tuesday.

"Welcome to the pod little one."

There are only 73 SRKWs left in the world, a decline of one from last year, according to the results of the most recent census by the Center for Whale Research.

Southern resident killer whales are critically endangered and feed mostly on salmon, unlike their relatives the Bigg's killer whale, or transient orcas, which are listed as "threatened" but not endangered in Canada.