It's A Girl! Researchers Discover Orca Calf Is Female

SEATTLE — Whale watchers are delighted to report one of the newest members of the Southern Resident orcas is a baby girl.

The Center for Whale Researcher announced the news over Facebook this week. They say whale watcher Jeanne Hyde had been taking photographs of the orcas, when six-month-old J58 started rolling in the water. That gave Hyde enough time to snap a picture of her belly, confirming her gender.

It's big news for conservationists that J58 is a girl: researchers have long been hoping for a new female calf, which they say will be critical for keeping the killer whale population sustainable.

Currently, there are 75 orcas in the Southern Resident orca population, 24 in the J pod, 17 in the K pod, and 34 in the L pod.

It's been around two months since the last Southern Resident orca was born. That orca, L125 was discovered back in mid-February. At the time, researchers had no idea it's mother, L86, had even been pregnant. L125's gender is still unknown.