J45. Photo by Erin Heydenreich, May 15 2009
Baby J45 and his family have disappeared for a while, most likely in search of food:
"The last encounter we had with J45 was on the 15th of May. He seemed just fine, and was acting like any normal young calf. He was last seen going by the Center on May 25th he was traveling with his mom J14 and his sister J37. He may have been seen from a whale watch boat since then. J pod left the area shortly after they were seen on the 25th by us, and there have been no reports of them since then."
Erin Heydenreich
Staff Assistant, Center for Whale Research
J45 traveling next to J30 with j2 in the back. Photo by Erin Heydenreich, May 15 2009
Although J-pod seems to have left the area for a while, members of the other southern resident killer whale pods have been seen more recently. It is not unusual for the pods to mix up from time to time, and two whales for K-pod have joined up with a family from L pod.
There has been concern expressed though, about what appears to be unusual behavior from the whales this year. Many people who know the whales and their typical movement patterns are worried by the changes, so over the coming weeks we will try to sort out for you what is happening. Please keep in mind though that the data won't be complete for a long time, maybe even years - but we will share what we know, and look at other populations of wildlife as a comparison.
The evening to see J45 was May 23rd. We were at Lime Kiln. J pod went past and was heading north. Most of the visitors to the park left after that, and there were only 7 or 8 of us who remained and were chatting. About a half hour later, a few members of JPod returned. J14 and J45 were amongst them. It seemed as if J14 had told J45 to go practice his breaching, and he was up and down over and over again. We had spyhops, tail lobs, and breaching from the adults also. It was a night to remember and I was glad I caught it with my camera.
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