‘Missing’ L-Pod orca is found all alone

The number of Southern Resident orcas known to be alive increased by one, but that fact could be just a technicality because this local orca might not be a part of the group anymore.

A lone juvenile orca swimming by itself in an inlet off northwestern Vancouver Island has been identified as an L-Pod calf, that was reported to have vanished in June 2001.

Seven orcas vanished from L-Pod last summer. The number of missing orcas is now down to six, but this two-year-old juvenile identified as L-98 (named “Luna”), has left the pod, perhaps of its own will, perhaps not.

Kelley Balcomb-Bartok with the San Juan Island-based Center for Whale Research said what’s happening with Luna is just plain “unprecedented” for a Southern Resident orca. “None of us have ever faced this before,” he said.

The whale has been observed and studied by Canadian scientists since July last year. It was identified as L-98 after photographs were taken of it on Nov. 25, 2001. Canadian researchers kept the identity of the whale quiet for a few weeks so it wouldn’t be disturbed.

Balcomb-Bartok, who was off-island this week to observe another lone juvenile orca in south Puget Sound (that orca is not believed to be a local killer whale), said Luna is a complete mystery. He said a panel of scientists is being convened to decide how to respond to it. For the moment, scientists have decided to monitor the whale on a bi-weekly basis, but not intervene unless the orca’s health begins to deteriorate.

Balcomb-Bartok said it’s possible L-Pod abandoned the orca, or perhaps the whale went off by itself because something is physically wrong with it. There is a possibility the orca simply became separated and can’t find its way back to the group.

Balcomb-Bartok said another possibility is that Luna’s mother may not be a good parent. He said this female orca is known for letting other orcas take care of her calves for a short period of time, which is rare behavior. “She may not be a very reliable or responsible mother,” he said.

Resident orcas are highly social animals. John K.B. Ford and Graeme M. Ellis, with the Marine Mammal Research Pacific Biological Station of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada, wrote in a scientific paper that “the situation with L-98 is extremely unusual. Resident killer whales live in very stable kin groups called martilines. A whale born to a matriline rarely if ever strays for long from this group...”

The report said something even remotely similar to this has been seen only twice before, in 1977 and 1996. Both involved whales in poor health. Luna appears to be quite healthy by comparison.

According to the Canadian report, Luna “appeared to be in good condition, swimming and surfacing in an energetic fashion and showing no obvious physical signs of emaciation.”

Luna was observed eating salmon and playing on several occasions. It even approached the researchers’ vessel on one occasion, apparently out of curiosity.

Balcomb-Bartok doubts that Luna’s sighting will result in the sighting of any other L-Pod orcas reported missing last summer. Most of the other missing orcas were full-grown adults, and it’s feared they’re dead from lack of food, infection, toxic poisoning or some other unknown cause.

Balcomb-Bartok said that while it’s rare for a juvenile orca to be missing, it’s even rarer for adult orcas to simply leave their resident pods and vanish. “I can’t say it isn’t possible, but..,” he said. Balcomb-Bartok said there are no plans at the moment to attempt to rejoin the orca with it’s pod.

— Pierre LaBossiére reports on sports, environment and law enforcement for sanjuanjournal.com and The Journal of the San Juan Islands, sister publications of islandsweekly.net andThe Islands’ Weekly. He can be reached at (360) 378-4191 ext. 20 or email.

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