Above: L77 with newborn calf L114Great news this morning... a new baby was documented in L Pod as they traveled inland yesterday. L114 was born to L77 (Matia - pronounced May-sha). Matia's little sister Calypso (L94) gave birth last October to L113. This means in the past 13 months J Pod has had four calves (J44, 45, 46, 47) and L Pod has had three (L112, 113, and 114). Of the seven calves born, only two have been sexed - J44 and J45 are both males. My favorite matriline, the J17s, contributed three of the seven babies. The calves were born in February '09, March, October, November, January, and February '10.
I'm so excited that the SRKWs have recouped their losses from the summer of '08 and are back to a total population of 89. I really want to go back to the island and visit my friends this summer and meet all these newbies. Of course, I'm most excited to see J46, Polaris's baby, who, according to researchers is looking nice and healthy. Speaking of health, J1 and J2 (Ruffles and Granny) have been spotted this year and are looking round and healthy. If J2 survives to next summer's survey, she will be estimated to be 100 years old! Pretty incredible!
Things are currently looking up for the SRKWs... now let's start working on those salmon.
Below: J28 and J44
