A small barrel roll gave Washington whale watchers an exciting gender reveal over the weekend and a reason to be hopeful about the future of the southern resident orcas.
The Center for Whale Research (CWR) confirmed that the J pod’s newest calf, J58, is a female after the 6-month-old calf was seen rolling onto her back, revealing her underside which allowed researchers to determine the gender.
The calf was born last September to J41 (also known as Eclipse) off the waters of Vancouver, British Columbia. Astonishingly, researchers were aboard a nearby boat when the calf was born and watched the entire thing, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“It took a few minutes
→ Continue reading at Seattle PI
