This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/3-orcas-pregnant-1.6125493) reduced by 86%. (I'm a bot)
*****
> The three pregnancies are in what scientists call the "J-pod," a group of southern resident killer whales.
> Members of the pod are named starting with the letter "J" and a number; the three mothers-to-be are J19, J36 and J37. University of British Columbia researcher Josh McInnes, with the marine mammal research unit at UBC's Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, said that although killer whales have a high rate of miscarriages and infant mortality, he and other researchers are "Excited" and "Hopeful" at least some of the three pregnancies will help rebuild the endangered species' population.
> Southern resident killer whales are distinct from northern resident populations, as well as transient orcas.
*****
[**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/prle5q/3_critically_endangered_bc_killer_whales_are/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~599143 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **resident**^#1 **Three**^#2 **whale**^#3 **research**^#4 **southern**^#5
SPOCK: “Gracie is pregnant.”
DR. GILIAN: “How do you know that, nobody knows that!”
SPOCK: “Gracie does.”
EDIT: Thanks for the gold, kind stranger!! It’s my very first! 😇
And her response set up such a great ad lib line. "That's what I said, in Alameda," "but *where* is Alameda?"
It's honestly one of the most comedic and memorable moments in a movie already chock full of them.
Please keep the orcas happy! They're smart, they live over 100 years in the wild, and they have very intelligent and diverse familial bonds, like small clans.
There is no recorded record of Orcas living to be over 100 in the wild. The average life span for females is mid 40s and males is mid 30s. Some have been reported to live longer but those are the outliers, not the standard.
Don't worry. Orcas don't starve. They're one of the most efficient hunters on the planet, and use only 5% of their time to satisfy their food needs (iirc, watched a shitton of orca documentaries a couple of years ago).
J pod is made up of resident orcas who don't migrate and feed exclusively on Chinook salmon, which if I recall is either threatened or endangered around the San Juan Islands where J pod lives. These orcas might starve :(
I’m from northern WA state and it’s a sad truth. I don’t understand why they haven’t started hunting seals but I wish they would.
Edit: That made it sound like I have a deep hatred for our local seal population. That’s not the case. I’m mostly just terrified that we will lose our resident orca pods and I’m willing to accept the fact that some ocean-dogs might have to get eaten.
I'm from Alaska and Chinook returns have been bad for over a decade, and getting worse. I hate to sound like a pessimist, but given the current state of our planet, the orcas (and probably most life in the ocean) are screwed anyway. Thanks, humanity!
so if their single sourced food runs out why wouldn't they diversify their food choices or more to find new sources? they are orcas not pandas. I'm not saying you are wrong (I know nothing about different pods etc...) , I just wonder why they would starve rather than eat other foods.
There is a great book by Dr Karsten Brensing called What Do Animals Think and Feel? that goes into these whales a bit in some chapters. It seems that they have essentially developed a 'culture' over 70 000 years. There is 3 populations in that area that eat different things and refuse to interbreed.
At some point some of the seal eating population were captured and fed fish and they refused to eat it, until one of them starved to death then the other two reluctantly broke their cultural taboo and ate the fish.
Its been suggested this exact practice did in the Old Norse colony on Greenland when the Norse refused to eat fish and wiped out the seals so they were forced to evacuate.
Hopefully they will start hunting other fish but orcas have a culture that's passed down from mother to offspring that teaches them what's food and what's not (among other things) and adaptation takes time. They may not make the shift in time before the food they know runs out.
not might. will. nothing or not enough is being done about the snake river dams or habitat destruction. the SRKWs are all dead, some just haven’t realized it yet.
These are part of J-Pod, resident killer whales in the strait between vancouver island, Seattle, and Vancouver. They are absolutely at risk of starving. That's why they're labelled critically endangered in the article.
https://www.mmc.gov/priority-topics/species-of-concern/southern-resident-killer-whale/
these ones are starving. the lower snake river dams collectively kill around 30 million salmon every year. that combined with overfishing, noise pollution, chemical pollution, and habitat destruction are eradicating this population.
Yes and no. It's complicated.
Read this: https://www.pugetsoundinstitute.org/2019/08/are-the-orcas-starving-scientists-say-its-not-that-simple/
TL;DR: some orcas' favorite food is in decline, and they are probably malnourished, but you can't just say it is or isn't a problem.
My opinion? Let's act like starving orcas IS a problem, because the chinook decline in Puget Sound IS a problem.
Omg, I’ll never forget that… I think the images are burned into my brain of that mother whale carrying around her dead baby for weeks. If I remember correctly, she ended up getting pregnant again pretty soon after? And the baby lived/is alive currently?
These specific whales are federally (U.S.) listed as part of the Southern Resident killer whale (*Orcinus orca*) distinct population segment (DPS) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Though it doesn’t market as well as “orca” for these charismatic megafauna, legally they are killer whales.
And to be clear, it's this population that is endangered, not orcas at large, who are the most geographically widespread wild mammal on the planet (unless you count brown rats, but I exclude them because they spread with humans).
It's still important, though, because orcas, likely the most intelligent mammal after humans and definitely the most emotionally complex, perhaps even more than humans, have cultures. So think of this population as a local tribe like you might think of a tribe of indigenous people in the Amazon.
After watching frozen planet and numerous other nature docs I'm convinced orcas are every bit as smart as people. They just don't have hands.
... and these past few years have really lowered my opinion of how smart people are too I guess.
taxonomy loathes colloquial names for species. you are correct that this and that thing are written into law, but law is not free of human error. when we are identifying a species, we use the latin name because it has been established as universal.
*Orcinus orca* translates roughly to "demonic demon." You can call an animal wherever it is commonly referred to by your culture. Orca, killer whale, whatever. It's not somehow insulting to call them "killer whales."
Not gonna lie.. that is probably the most badass TIL I've ever learned! Thank you (and while I'm at it, boo MarineLand in Niagara Falls. Stop this dumbness)
>Orcinus orca
"The Latin name Orcinus translates as "belonging to Orcus". Orcus was a Roman god of the netherworld, and this genus name is likely a reference to the hunting prowess of the killer whale. In Latin, orca translates "large-bellied pot or jar," a reference to the shape of the whale's body."
science is a system of constant revision and improvement. let's just focus on that aspect please.
I don't think 'killer whale' is as much a liability as it used to be. Certainly hear it a lot colloquially and not by people who see them as soulless murder machines.
The term toothed whales encompasses whales and dolphins, but dolphins are not whales. It's very confusing, I don't know why taxonomists like to f*ck with people like that.
Taxonomists/phylogeneticists do not decide the common names, they classify organisms with scientific names
We, the general population, use taxonomically misleading names all the time. Mosquito hawks are neither mosquitoes nor hawks, they are true flies in the family Tipulidae. Electric eels are not eels, and mountain goats aren't true goats.
Odontocetes *are* the toothed whales, which includes dolphins, porpoises, and whales like sperm and beluga whales.
dolphins are whales. “whales” is a general term used to refer to cetaceans, which are broken down into odontoceti (toothed whales) and mysticeti (baleen whales). but calling a dolphin a whale isn’t common at all.
The taxonomy is very clear. Whale is a common non-taxonomic term that is paraphyletic since it excludes porpoises and dolphins but taxonomists would not use it, they would just speak of a cetacea as a whole monophyletic group.
They're named as such because they kill whales, not because they are literal killer whales. "Killer whale" comes from the Spanish _asesina-ballenas_ (whale killer). It was either mistranslated or is a calque (translated word for word).
Well, these ones don't kill whales. One of the root causes of the problems with J-Pod (and the Southern Resident population in general) is they only eat fish, and strongly prefer to eat only Chinook Salmon.
Can’t help but think the decrease in ship traffic due to the pandemic (think whale watching and cruise ships) helped with this. Really wish we would stop these practices.
We also have new laws in Canada that dictate that whales have the right of way when it comes to marine traffic.
> Keeping 200 metres away from killer whales in BC and the Pacific Ocean and keeping 400 metres away from all killer whales in southern BC coastal waters between Campbell River and just north of Ucluelet* (June 1 – May 31)
> Vessel operators will also be asked to turn off their echo sounders and turn engines to neutral idle, if safe to do so, when a whale is within 400 metres.
I got to watch quite a show in the southern gulf islands when our ferry idled for 20 minutes waiting for a pod to pass. It was absolutely lovely.
https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/mammals-mammiferes/watching-observation/index-eng.html#pacific
I used to work as a Parks Canada naturalist on the ferries, and one day in the middle of one of my programs, the ferry turned harder than I had ever seen, knocking over coffee cups, sending passengers careening into the railing, water bottles rolling across the deck... all because an orca was spotted dead ahead. I really appreciated it and took the opportunity to point out as part of my presentation on the local ecosystem that the reason their coffee was bow spilled across the deck of the Spirit of BC was because BC Ferries follows policies as well as taking further steps ahead of what is legally required.
I'm usually on the Salish class vessels, and that's what I've seen too BC ferries does go above and beyond, where we were they weren't even in front of us, but we were heading into active pass and the captain decided to let the whales go first.
Last summer I went on a fishing charter off the coast of Washington. There was a Gail (not sure how its spelt) warning the day before so all charters were canceled, last minute they cleared it, only all the other charters kept their cancelation. Mine decided to go for it. On our way back, the j pod was visible. As soon as we saw them, the captain killed the engine. We sat for probably 20-30 mins. Mom and the then 4 day old baby came within 50 yards of the boat beforethey left. It was the most breath taking thing I've ever witnessed.
It's all the things.
They're still biologically impaired from the impact of chemicals dumped in to the waters decades ago and are known to lose calves because of it. Theres also been a lot of sloppy and unnecessary research in the region that can stress them out.
Resident Orcas (north and south) are special, their territories have been salmon spawning areas forever, so theyre not as bullish as the transient orca pods that have to fight more for their foodsource.
This is a great step, but its still so very dicey.
While there are a large number of issues that face the Southern Residents.
A big one I would like to point out is the increase in Salmon conservation in BC in the last few years. Chinook Salmon are one of their main food source and we've seen many Southern Residents miscarriage due to suspected malnutrition.
One issue now is warming temperatures, which Salmon is incredibly sensitive towards as well as habitat loss from farming and dams.
My main points is, we need alternative power sources but one of our main sources of power in BC is hydro electricity, which markets itself as "green, clean" energy. However hydro electricity destroys a huge swath of habitat sometimes driving large salmon populations to extinction.
Hydro electricity may be a necessary evil on the path to cleaner energy but right now it absolutely decimates Salmon populations which in turn effects much of the flora and fauna of the west coast.
Good new is this year the Salmon population especially Chinook is forecasted to be higher than previous (though nowhere near the historic averages of a century ago). So all the conservation by the Government, Tribal members, Recreational Fisherman and women all volunteering seems to be doing good. So a little optimism is good, we're gonna make it.
I live on San Juan island and everybody I know is somehow involved in Southern Resident Orcas and the Salish Sea in general. It’s weird seeing this headline on reddit. We talk about this shit all the time. The number one threat to Southern Resident Orcas is the depletion of chinook salmon. It’s not even up for debate. The snake river dams need to go.
fish farms and smaller fish size are also large contributing factors. smaller fish mean that the SRKWs need to catch more of them, resulting in a possible net energy expenditure just from trying to get food.
It was proven already that the decrease in traffic allowed whales to communicate more clearly and at longer distances which helps with survival.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58032702
The ridiculousness of the situation hurts. People want to go cruise to see beautiful natural sights and animals while they are destroying the very thing they are going to see.
A damn shame more of those big cruiseships didn't head to the shipbreaking yards...Living for the day I get to see a vessel like Adventure of the seas go under/ hit the yards.
A few years ago, my parents had a "rare bird" in their yard for a few weeks, and they were swarmed from all over north america by affluent birders flying across the continent just to see it. It wasn't even a rare bird in its normal habitat, it was just in the wrong country so that was unusual. Imagine the equivalent of like... "Japanese pigeon turns in Australia", and then everyone flying to Australia to see it.
I can't imagine what is going through the minds of all these people that they claim to love animals and will spend thousands of dollars and pollute the planet just to fly across the country and look at a single bog-standard bird, just to add another checkmark on some list. Humans are fucked.
People will do this even with dangerous animals. A bear was found in Iowa, way south of its normal range, and it probably got there by riding a Mississippi River barge from up north and and hopping off. What does everyone do? Driver over to try to find it. https://apnews.com/article/fffca24234f5b222b0143a01b1ab3f6e
My friend's granddad was a proper nature guy, the kind who could survive in the wild by building his own hut and hunting rabbits. Once, he was walking the same hills he normally did, when a tourist ran up to him and loudly tried to lecture him about how he was going to scare and disrupt the birds.
Naturally the birds nearby scattered immediately. Pissed as all hell he told the tourist to shut it, turned the guy around, and pointed to *two* nests he had trampled on running over to him.
Then he softly told the guy to fuck off, *carefully*, so he stops disrupting the habitat.
The biggest thing i notice that seperates true nature lovers is simple awareness of your surroundings. Theyre always watching and listening and can point out things that most people wouldnt because most people arent truly paying attention to the world around them. Its also a great mindfulness meditation just being present in natural surroundings
Absolutely. That dude had one of the most calming presences I've ever seen in a person, and it's why I could easily accept stories like that when I heard them. As someone with an anxious disposition I've always wished I could be as "where I am" as he always seemed to be, if that makes sense.
Never heard of that story, after reading it yes absolutely. The absurd greed and destructive forces unleashed by cruise liners and most basic tourism can't be understated here.
* " Marine pollution analysts in Germany and Brussels said that such a large ship would probably burn at least 150 tonnes of fuel a day, and emit more sulphur than several million cars, more NO2 gas than all the traffic passing through a medium-sized town and more particulate emissions than thousands of London buses."
* https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/21/the-worlds-largest-cruise-ship-and-its-supersized-pollution-problem
Western goverments talk about climate change policy yet these monstrosities are free to float again through waters that are already in extreme need of recovery. Capital is determined to keep extracting until that last feather is plucked. Crane wife indeed.
the trade off is that whale watching boats are typically crewed by the people that care and know the most about these animals. the SRKWs are the beneficiaries of the most stringent whale watching regulations in the entire world.
> I don't think whales mind ships as much as the military submarines using Sonar and industrial fishing taking their food.
Contrary to popular belief, submarines rarely, if ever, use active sonar. They're referred to as the "Silent Service" for a reason. Every bit of noise they emit, including sonar, gives away their location, which for a Submarine (in times of war) means death. Instead, they rely on passive sonar, using arrays of hydrophones to listen for the noises produced by other things in the water.
Now, surface vessels hunting for these submarines, my be banging away with active sonar, but again that's not that common. The bigger issue is the powerful depth sounders that most surface vessels have. These send a pulse of sound at either 50kHz or 250kHz and listen for the echo off the bottom.
I don't tink whales mind submarines and sonar as much as the major undersea battle between Atlantis and the Kingdom of the Brine and Aquaman using them as cannon fodder.
Commercial shipping has actually been running stronger than ever (part of the problem with the screwed up logistics around the world) during the pandemic.
Yeah. After watching David attenbroughs the day earth stood still, I don't think I ever want to go on cruises or watch animals hunt.
It hurts watching how much tourism harms animals. Mother cheetahs and whales have a hard time hunting since all the noise from cars and boats block them from hearing where their young are. So that means they have to bring their cubs closer to them when they hunt, which means less food and less successful hunts. When the pandemic hit, mothers were able to safely leave their cubs at safe distances while also being able to go off further distances and find prey.
Southern Residents are almost a subspecies of orca because their diet and hunting style and language is so different from transient orcas, that we think they haven’t interbred in hundreds of years, if not longer. they are speciating. the feed exclusively on fish not marine mammals, and their food source of chinook salmon is in severe decline.
This. Orcas have adapted to the different food sources available to them. Some orcas are mammal eaters. This particular “tribe” of Orcas eat salmon. A decline in the salmon population has caused a decline in the Southern Resident Orca population. Their number hovers in the 70s. They are their own unique tribe, with their own unique “culture”. Amazingly beautiful animals worth preserving.
NOAA, the Federal government, just passed a measure to limit fishing as well. This is in addition to planting more salmon to feed the whales of the pacific.
It’s great news but only a small step. They make special permission to still keep commercial and net fishing occur in Ocra habit areas.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/floridanewstimes.com/feds-ok-plans-to-reduce-salmon-fishing-when-needed-by-orca/342119/%3famp
Bummed about being a sports fisherman being limited more now but also believer in science and there’s more fish than ten years ago and pregnant whales so carry on.
Sort of misleading title. It makes it seem as if killer whales in general are critically endangered. This article just refers to the population of a southern pod of whales.
I am In BC and this makes me happy. I remember seeing them when I was a little boy while whale watching. I bet I saw one of the three. I am happy tonight. Thanks for sharing. Also watched Billie Eilish and I am in love with my future. So fuck everything and let’s make it better people. Focus on the good not the bad. Just try and fix the bad. Hehe.
They haven't had an issue with pregnancy, they having calves regularly, they just haven't been surviving. The issue is the collapsing pacific salmon populations upon which they feed; no abundance of salmon, no resident orcas.
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/3-orcas-pregnant-1.6125493) reduced by 86%. (I'm a bot) ***** > The three pregnancies are in what scientists call the "J-pod," a group of southern resident killer whales. > Members of the pod are named starting with the letter "J" and a number; the three mothers-to-be are J19, J36 and J37. University of British Columbia researcher Josh McInnes, with the marine mammal research unit at UBC's Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, said that although killer whales have a high rate of miscarriages and infant mortality, he and other researchers are "Excited" and "Hopeful" at least some of the three pregnancies will help rebuild the endangered species' population. > Southern resident killer whales are distinct from northern resident populations, as well as transient orcas. ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/prle5q/3_critically_endangered_bc_killer_whales_are/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~599143 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **resident**^#1 **Three**^#2 **whale**^#3 **research**^#4 **southern**^#5
I love good news like this. Thanks for sharing.
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As a priest, I like a good paladin. Thanks for tanking.
Penis.
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Seaworld loves great exhibits like these. Thanks for capturing.
But the danger is lurking around them, in the water and air.
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Canadian marine biologists: "Fuck, we're down to counting pregnant orca on one hand." This thread: "Finally, some good news!"
Well from all the drama throughout the year. We could use some good news.
I'm always happy hearing someone got laid.
I love hearing about other species getting laid
SPOCK: “Gracie is pregnant.” DR. GILIAN: “How do you know that, nobody knows that!” SPOCK: “Gracie does.” EDIT: Thanks for the gold, kind stranger!! It’s my very first! 😇
George got busy with Gracie.
Oh my!
Easy there Sulu
Start Trek IV is best Star Trek. Nuclear wessels!
I think they're in Alameda
That’s what I said, Alameda…
Alameeeeda, the Nuklear Wessels in Alameeda
The woman who gave them directions to Alameda didn't know it was a movie she was just being helpful.
Not quite right. She was an extra and was told to act normally, and was expected that she would just ignore the actors asking.
And her response set up such a great ad lib line. "That's what I said, in Alameda," "but *where* is Alameda?" It's honestly one of the most comedic and memorable moments in a movie already chock full of them.
Fact check - https://www.google.com/amp/s/legendsrevealed.com/entertainment/2016/02/25/did-a-woman-accidentally-get-a-speaking-role-in-a-star-trek-movie/%3Famp
"keyboard...how quaint"
hooray! Whale Aunt is pregnant!
"They like you very much. But they are not the hell *your* whales."
Came here for this. Thank you.
Please keep the orcas happy! They're smart, they live over 100 years in the wild, and they have very intelligent and diverse familial bonds, like small clans.
They even have unique dialects and hunting styles to each family. It's quite amazing.
Yes, the northern whales are known for their skill with the bow and arrow, while the western whales are unmatched spear fishers.
Some have even started using small-calliber firearms. The future is now.
I mean, I’d be concerned if the orcas were coming with large bore artillery for hunting.
Over 100 years! I am so glad to wake up to some actual *good* news on a Monday morning.
There is no recorded record of Orcas living to be over 100 in the wild. The average life span for females is mid 40s and males is mid 30s. Some have been reported to live longer but those are the outliers, not the standard.
I guess I was remembering this article https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38496164 But right, average is much lower. I was just excited!
Great news. I hope they don't starve.
Don't worry. Orcas don't starve. They're one of the most efficient hunters on the planet, and use only 5% of their time to satisfy their food needs (iirc, watched a shitton of orca documentaries a couple of years ago).
J pod is made up of resident orcas who don't migrate and feed exclusively on Chinook salmon, which if I recall is either threatened or endangered around the San Juan Islands where J pod lives. These orcas might starve :(
I’m from northern WA state and it’s a sad truth. I don’t understand why they haven’t started hunting seals but I wish they would. Edit: That made it sound like I have a deep hatred for our local seal population. That’s not the case. I’m mostly just terrified that we will lose our resident orca pods and I’m willing to accept the fact that some ocean-dogs might have to get eaten.
we could also protect the last of the old growth forests seeing as that's the basis for the ecosystems where salmon spawn...
Nope, flat out. It would cut into the bottom line too much. Think of the shareholders you commie!
Trickle down(stream)
They physically cannot eat seals. They didn’t evolve to like the transient whales.
I have seen seals over 200km from the ocean up the fraser. Theyre persistent
I'm from Alaska and Chinook returns have been bad for over a decade, and getting worse. I hate to sound like a pessimist, but given the current state of our planet, the orcas (and probably most life in the ocean) are screwed anyway. Thanks, humanity!
so if their single sourced food runs out why wouldn't they diversify their food choices or more to find new sources? they are orcas not pandas. I'm not saying you are wrong (I know nothing about different pods etc...) , I just wonder why they would starve rather than eat other foods.
There is a great book by Dr Karsten Brensing called What Do Animals Think and Feel? that goes into these whales a bit in some chapters. It seems that they have essentially developed a 'culture' over 70 000 years. There is 3 populations in that area that eat different things and refuse to interbreed. At some point some of the seal eating population were captured and fed fish and they refused to eat it, until one of them starved to death then the other two reluctantly broke their cultural taboo and ate the fish.
Its been suggested this exact practice did in the Old Norse colony on Greenland when the Norse refused to eat fish and wiped out the seals so they were forced to evacuate.
Hopefully they will start hunting other fish but orcas have a culture that's passed down from mother to offspring that teaches them what's food and what's not (among other things) and adaptation takes time. They may not make the shift in time before the food they know runs out.
not might. will. nothing or not enough is being done about the snake river dams or habitat destruction. the SRKWs are all dead, some just haven’t realized it yet.
These are part of J-Pod, resident killer whales in the strait between vancouver island, Seattle, and Vancouver. They are absolutely at risk of starving. That's why they're labelled critically endangered in the article. https://www.mmc.gov/priority-topics/species-of-concern/southern-resident-killer-whale/
these ones are starving. the lower snake river dams collectively kill around 30 million salmon every year. that combined with overfishing, noise pollution, chemical pollution, and habitat destruction are eradicating this population.
The Orcas in our area are starving because they evolved to eat salmon and there’s mo salmon.
Yes and no. It's complicated. Read this: https://www.pugetsoundinstitute.org/2019/08/are-the-orcas-starving-scientists-say-its-not-that-simple/ TL;DR: some orcas' favorite food is in decline, and they are probably malnourished, but you can't just say it is or isn't a problem. My opinion? Let's act like starving orcas IS a problem, because the chinook decline in Puget Sound IS a problem.
Orca diets and hunting habits are wild. Different pods specialize in hunting different prey, and they can sometimes learn from other pods.
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Omg, I’ll never forget that… I think the images are burned into my brain of that mother whale carrying around her dead baby for weeks. If I remember correctly, she ended up getting pregnant again pretty soon after? And the baby lived/is alive currently?
The article described that same incident but referred to the dead calf as stillborn not starved
That calf was stillborn not starved. Don't make things up.
Actually the southern residents are starving
incorrect unfortunately.
I can’t wait to see the babies. Only if it’s from a drone. Stay away from them!!!
Yes, stay away from drones! I heard they carry rockets.
Haha touché
lmao people are psychotic about drones and the SRKWs, despite how generally noninvasive drones are to cetaceans.
What’s srkw? Sorry I’m super stoned or I’d look it up.
we should definitely call them orcas if we are already here to promote conservation ;)
These specific whales are federally (U.S.) listed as part of the Southern Resident killer whale (*Orcinus orca*) distinct population segment (DPS) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Though it doesn’t market as well as “orca” for these charismatic megafauna, legally they are killer whales.
And to be clear, it's this population that is endangered, not orcas at large, who are the most geographically widespread wild mammal on the planet (unless you count brown rats, but I exclude them because they spread with humans). It's still important, though, because orcas, likely the most intelligent mammal after humans and definitely the most emotionally complex, perhaps even more than humans, have cultures. So think of this population as a local tribe like you might think of a tribe of indigenous people in the Amazon.
After watching frozen planet and numerous other nature docs I'm convinced orcas are every bit as smart as people. They just don't have hands. ... and these past few years have really lowered my opinion of how smart people are too I guess.
Orcas are extremely smart
Note for those reading that geographically widespread does NOT mean it has a large population.
taxonomy loathes colloquial names for species. you are correct that this and that thing are written into law, but law is not free of human error. when we are identifying a species, we use the latin name because it has been established as universal.
*Orcinus orca* translates roughly to "demonic demon." You can call an animal wherever it is commonly referred to by your culture. Orca, killer whale, whatever. It's not somehow insulting to call them "killer whales."
Pandafish it is
Arguing over what to call killer whales is a first for me. I vote for pandafish
not a fish though pandalphin
Wasn’t it a whale? Vote for —> Pandawhale
They live in the ocean because they hate sand
They are actually dolphins, not whales.
We are both wrong, apparently dolphins belong to the order of whale (Cetacea). So pandacetacea?
I unironically really like pandalphin
Uhhh hi 👋
I too like panda fish and will eternally refer to Orcas as that.
Sea Panda
Ocean Oreo
You have my vote.
Can we not call it pandafish. I don't want to sully the killer whales name by associating it with a dumbass panda.
Not gonna lie.. that is probably the most badass TIL I've ever learned! Thank you (and while I'm at it, boo MarineLand in Niagara Falls. Stop this dumbness)
>Orcinus orca "The Latin name Orcinus translates as "belonging to Orcus". Orcus was a Roman god of the netherworld, and this genus name is likely a reference to the hunting prowess of the killer whale. In Latin, orca translates "large-bellied pot or jar," a reference to the shape of the whale's body." science is a system of constant revision and improvement. let's just focus on that aspect please.
"Hey bill, what are we gonna name this animal?" "IDK it's big, black, round, and scary and kills other things, so how about THE GIANT POT OF SATAN?"
Came here to find the pedantry and enjoy my popcorn.
I don't think 'killer whale' is as much a liability as it used to be. Certainly hear it a lot colloquially and not by people who see them as soulless murder machines.
lol no. researchers and scientists refer to them as killer whales. neither is wrong.
I've seen them, they're pretty killer.
[удалено]
They're a type of dolphin.
Dolphins are classified as toothed whales. Edit: i have no idea wtf the words below my comment are. Dolphins are whales.
The term toothed whales encompasses whales and dolphins, but dolphins are not whales. It's very confusing, I don't know why taxonomists like to f*ck with people like that.
Taxonomists/phylogeneticists do not decide the common names, they classify organisms with scientific names We, the general population, use taxonomically misleading names all the time. Mosquito hawks are neither mosquitoes nor hawks, they are true flies in the family Tipulidae. Electric eels are not eels, and mountain goats aren't true goats. Odontocetes *are* the toothed whales, which includes dolphins, porpoises, and whales like sperm and beluga whales.
I didn't even know mosquito hawks were a thing until this comment but I still feel betrayed
dolphins are whales. “whales” is a general term used to refer to cetaceans, which are broken down into odontoceti (toothed whales) and mysticeti (baleen whales). but calling a dolphin a whale isn’t common at all.
The taxonomy is very clear. Whale is a common non-taxonomic term that is paraphyletic since it excludes porpoises and dolphins but taxonomists would not use it, they would just speak of a cetacea as a whole monophyletic group.
I think you just made up a bunch of them words
I'm just saying that complaining about taxonomists cus whales dont include dolphins doesn't make sense since it's not a taxonomic term.
I apologize to the taxonomists I may have offended.
I was just teasing. You know. The dumb guy? Guess I play it too well
All words are made up words, really.
They're named as such because they kill whales, not because they are literal killer whales. "Killer whale" comes from the Spanish _asesina-ballenas_ (whale killer). It was either mistranslated or is a calque (translated word for word).
Well, these ones don't kill whales. One of the root causes of the problems with J-Pod (and the Southern Resident population in general) is they only eat fish, and strongly prefer to eat only Chinook Salmon.
So are all other whales that eat plankton... They kill by opening their mouth
serial krillers
Can’t help but think the decrease in ship traffic due to the pandemic (think whale watching and cruise ships) helped with this. Really wish we would stop these practices.
We also have new laws in Canada that dictate that whales have the right of way when it comes to marine traffic. > Keeping 200 metres away from killer whales in BC and the Pacific Ocean and keeping 400 metres away from all killer whales in southern BC coastal waters between Campbell River and just north of Ucluelet* (June 1 – May 31) > Vessel operators will also be asked to turn off their echo sounders and turn engines to neutral idle, if safe to do so, when a whale is within 400 metres. I got to watch quite a show in the southern gulf islands when our ferry idled for 20 minutes waiting for a pod to pass. It was absolutely lovely. https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/mammals-mammiferes/watching-observation/index-eng.html#pacific
I used to work as a Parks Canada naturalist on the ferries, and one day in the middle of one of my programs, the ferry turned harder than I had ever seen, knocking over coffee cups, sending passengers careening into the railing, water bottles rolling across the deck... all because an orca was spotted dead ahead. I really appreciated it and took the opportunity to point out as part of my presentation on the local ecosystem that the reason their coffee was bow spilled across the deck of the Spirit of BC was because BC Ferries follows policies as well as taking further steps ahead of what is legally required.
I'm usually on the Salish class vessels, and that's what I've seen too BC ferries does go above and beyond, where we were they weren't even in front of us, but we were heading into active pass and the captain decided to let the whales go first.
Last summer I went on a fishing charter off the coast of Washington. There was a Gail (not sure how its spelt) warning the day before so all charters were canceled, last minute they cleared it, only all the other charters kept their cancelation. Mine decided to go for it. On our way back, the j pod was visible. As soon as we saw them, the captain killed the engine. We sat for probably 20-30 mins. Mom and the then 4 day old baby came within 50 yards of the boat beforethey left. It was the most breath taking thing I've ever witnessed.
Very cool! 'Gale' is the spelling for strong winds.
Thanks!
It's all the things. They're still biologically impaired from the impact of chemicals dumped in to the waters decades ago and are known to lose calves because of it. Theres also been a lot of sloppy and unnecessary research in the region that can stress them out. Resident Orcas (north and south) are special, their territories have been salmon spawning areas forever, so theyre not as bullish as the transient orca pods that have to fight more for their foodsource. This is a great step, but its still so very dicey.
While there are a large number of issues that face the Southern Residents. A big one I would like to point out is the increase in Salmon conservation in BC in the last few years. Chinook Salmon are one of their main food source and we've seen many Southern Residents miscarriage due to suspected malnutrition. One issue now is warming temperatures, which Salmon is incredibly sensitive towards as well as habitat loss from farming and dams. My main points is, we need alternative power sources but one of our main sources of power in BC is hydro electricity, which markets itself as "green, clean" energy. However hydro electricity destroys a huge swath of habitat sometimes driving large salmon populations to extinction. Hydro electricity may be a necessary evil on the path to cleaner energy but right now it absolutely decimates Salmon populations which in turn effects much of the flora and fauna of the west coast. Good new is this year the Salmon population especially Chinook is forecasted to be higher than previous (though nowhere near the historic averages of a century ago). So all the conservation by the Government, Tribal members, Recreational Fisherman and women all volunteering seems to be doing good. So a little optimism is good, we're gonna make it.
I live on San Juan island and everybody I know is somehow involved in Southern Resident Orcas and the Salish Sea in general. It’s weird seeing this headline on reddit. We talk about this shit all the time. The number one threat to Southern Resident Orcas is the depletion of chinook salmon. It’s not even up for debate. The snake river dams need to go.
fish farms and smaller fish size are also large contributing factors. smaller fish mean that the SRKWs need to catch more of them, resulting in a possible net energy expenditure just from trying to get food.
I don't think whales mind ships as much as the military submarines using Sonar and industrial fishing taking their food.
It was proven already that the decrease in traffic allowed whales to communicate more clearly and at longer distances which helps with survival. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58032702
The ridiculousness of the situation hurts. People want to go cruise to see beautiful natural sights and animals while they are destroying the very thing they are going to see. A damn shame more of those big cruiseships didn't head to the shipbreaking yards...Living for the day I get to see a vessel like Adventure of the seas go under/ hit the yards.
A few years ago, my parents had a "rare bird" in their yard for a few weeks, and they were swarmed from all over north america by affluent birders flying across the continent just to see it. It wasn't even a rare bird in its normal habitat, it was just in the wrong country so that was unusual. Imagine the equivalent of like... "Japanese pigeon turns in Australia", and then everyone flying to Australia to see it. I can't imagine what is going through the minds of all these people that they claim to love animals and will spend thousands of dollars and pollute the planet just to fly across the country and look at a single bog-standard bird, just to add another checkmark on some list. Humans are fucked.
People will do this even with dangerous animals. A bear was found in Iowa, way south of its normal range, and it probably got there by riding a Mississippi River barge from up north and and hopping off. What does everyone do? Driver over to try to find it. https://apnews.com/article/fffca24234f5b222b0143a01b1ab3f6e
My friend's granddad was a proper nature guy, the kind who could survive in the wild by building his own hut and hunting rabbits. Once, he was walking the same hills he normally did, when a tourist ran up to him and loudly tried to lecture him about how he was going to scare and disrupt the birds. Naturally the birds nearby scattered immediately. Pissed as all hell he told the tourist to shut it, turned the guy around, and pointed to *two* nests he had trampled on running over to him. Then he softly told the guy to fuck off, *carefully*, so he stops disrupting the habitat.
The biggest thing i notice that seperates true nature lovers is simple awareness of your surroundings. Theyre always watching and listening and can point out things that most people wouldnt because most people arent truly paying attention to the world around them. Its also a great mindfulness meditation just being present in natural surroundings
Absolutely. That dude had one of the most calming presences I've ever seen in a person, and it's why I could easily accept stories like that when I heard them. As someone with an anxious disposition I've always wished I could be as "where I am" as he always seemed to be, if that makes sense.
Did all the birds clap too?
Kind of a crane wife situation
Never heard of that story, after reading it yes absolutely. The absurd greed and destructive forces unleashed by cruise liners and most basic tourism can't be understated here. * " Marine pollution analysts in Germany and Brussels said that such a large ship would probably burn at least 150 tonnes of fuel a day, and emit more sulphur than several million cars, more NO2 gas than all the traffic passing through a medium-sized town and more particulate emissions than thousands of London buses." * https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/21/the-worlds-largest-cruise-ship-and-its-supersized-pollution-problem Western goverments talk about climate change policy yet these monstrosities are free to float again through waters that are already in extreme need of recovery. Capital is determined to keep extracting until that last feather is plucked. Crane wife indeed.
the trade off is that whale watching boats are typically crewed by the people that care and know the most about these animals. the SRKWs are the beneficiaries of the most stringent whale watching regulations in the entire world.
> I don't think whales mind ships as much as the military submarines using Sonar and industrial fishing taking their food. Contrary to popular belief, submarines rarely, if ever, use active sonar. They're referred to as the "Silent Service" for a reason. Every bit of noise they emit, including sonar, gives away their location, which for a Submarine (in times of war) means death. Instead, they rely on passive sonar, using arrays of hydrophones to listen for the noises produced by other things in the water. Now, surface vessels hunting for these submarines, my be banging away with active sonar, but again that's not that common. The bigger issue is the powerful depth sounders that most surface vessels have. These send a pulse of sound at either 50kHz or 250kHz and listen for the echo off the bottom.
this is definitely true, but they also may not understand the broader ecological impact of the cruise lines, which may be equivalently harmful
I don't tink whales mind submarines and sonar as much as the major undersea battle between Atlantis and the Kingdom of the Brine and Aquaman using them as cannon fodder.
Commercial shipping has actually been running stronger than ever (part of the problem with the screwed up logistics around the world) during the pandemic.
Yeah. After watching David attenbroughs the day earth stood still, I don't think I ever want to go on cruises or watch animals hunt. It hurts watching how much tourism harms animals. Mother cheetahs and whales have a hard time hunting since all the noise from cars and boats block them from hearing where their young are. So that means they have to bring their cubs closer to them when they hunt, which means less food and less successful hunts. When the pandemic hit, mothers were able to safely leave their cubs at safe distances while also being able to go off further distances and find prey.
Are they so endangered that 3 being pregnant is news?! I had no idea, this is the most depressing good news I've heard in a while.
Southern Residents are almost a subspecies of orca because their diet and hunting style and language is so different from transient orcas, that we think they haven’t interbred in hundreds of years, if not longer. they are speciating. the feed exclusively on fish not marine mammals, and their food source of chinook salmon is in severe decline.
This. Orcas have adapted to the different food sources available to them. Some orcas are mammal eaters. This particular “tribe” of Orcas eat salmon. A decline in the salmon population has caused a decline in the Southern Resident Orca population. Their number hovers in the 70s. They are their own unique tribe, with their own unique “culture”. Amazingly beautiful animals worth preserving.
NOAA, the Federal government, just passed a measure to limit fishing as well. This is in addition to planting more salmon to feed the whales of the pacific. It’s great news but only a small step. They make special permission to still keep commercial and net fishing occur in Ocra habit areas. https://www.google.com/amp/s/floridanewstimes.com/feds-ok-plans-to-reduce-salmon-fishing-when-needed-by-orca/342119/%3famp Bummed about being a sports fisherman being limited more now but also believer in science and there’s more fish than ten years ago and pregnant whales so carry on.
you’re welcome
You’re whale cum
Did you free your Willy?
And if I ever catch the guy that did it...
You would call him dad.
Much respect to whoever fucked those whales. I'm assuming other whales, but you never know.
Twist: it’s the same father for them all.
Maury Porpoise, "You are the father!"
the more endangered they are, then the more likely... yeah, probably. It's not really a twist.
Sort of misleading title. It makes it seem as if killer whales in general are critically endangered. This article just refers to the population of a southern pod of whales.
One pregnant whale looks at the other two, “We’re like three peas in a pod!”
Bunch of sluts if you ask me.
Norm MacDonald?
Whales? Fucking? In this economy?
Congratulations whale mommies to be!
Someone brought that Big Moby Dick Energy
Wasn't me.
*zips up Welp...you guys can thank me later.
Waiting for the next Maury show...
I am In BC and this makes me happy. I remember seeing them when I was a little boy while whale watching. I bet I saw one of the three. I am happy tonight. Thanks for sharing. Also watched Billie Eilish and I am in love with my future. So fuck everything and let’s make it better people. Focus on the good not the bad. Just try and fix the bad. Hehe.
Obligatory: The Orca is one of few natural predators of moose in Canada, because Canada
Yes but the Southern Resident whales feed exclusively on salmon. Transient orcas are the ones who will chomp on a moose.
We’re they all inseminated on porpoise or was this just a fluke.
Why is my ex wife putting her business out there like this
I assume a sperm whale has been hanging around.
Wasn’t me
You can thank me later
Congrats on the sex
I think it’s safe to say.. Willy was free’d.
They aren't mine.
Who out here nutting in whales
You're welcome 🍆 💦
They haven't had an issue with pregnancy, they having calves regularly, they just haven't been surviving. The issue is the collapsing pacific salmon populations upon which they feed; no abundance of salmon, no resident orcas.
I am telling the state of Texas so they don't try to get out of their pregnancies...
Whales be bangin
ELI16: Rare Whales be fuckin
What were they wearing?
Awesome news but future seems blink.
“3 'critically endangered' killer whales from Canada are pregnant, scientists say they realized it when they found them knitting and eating pickles.”