Experts want to reunite lost whale with its family
Date: 05-Feb-02
Country: CANADA
A juvenile killer whale has been alone off Vancouver Island since he became separated from his family pod last summer and officials want them reunited since the area's resident orca population is already dwindling.
The whale pod, known to experts as "L" pod, may have been feeding in the area near Nootka Sound last summer and the 2 1/2 year-old orca may have gone into an unfamiliar area, John Ford of Fisheries and Oceans Canada said last week.
"He may have just lost his way, and the pod moved on," Ford, a leading expert on killer whales, told Reuters.
Killer whales spend their entire lives with their family pods, and although the young orca appears still to be healthy it was unclear what the impact on him has been of being separated from the others for so long, Ford said.
"One can imagine that social contact would be a good thing for (the whale,)" Ford said.
The L pod, which has about 40 members, spends its summers feeding on fish in the waters off Washington state's Puget Sound and Vancouver Island, but experts do not know where the whales live during the winter.
The whale, known to experts as "L-98", has been staying in an isolated inlet and the first goal is to make sure it was protected from human harassment while it awaits the pod's return in late spring, Ford said.
The experts will then try to figure out how the whale and pod can be reunited.
"If L pod happens to be passing by the entrance of the sound, perhaps L-98 might hear them in the distance and go racing out. That's our hope," Ford said.
The population of resident orcas in the region has declined in recent years and Ford said it was unclear if incidents such as L-98's getting separated from the pod is part of the reason.