Orca Conservancy

This Giving Season, we hope you consider donating to help us reach our goal of $10,000 for the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales With your help, we can continue our work & expand initiatives. But we can’t do it without your help! donorbox.org/orca-conservan…

@baycetology , which maintains the West Coast transient catalog, has officially designated them T419, T420, and T421.

While little is known about these three, observed behavior confirms they are mammal-eating killer whales. More encounters or DNA samples will be needed to determine their population, but researchers suspect they may be Gulf of Alaska transients.

We had some new fins making their way around Puget Sound last week! Meet T419, T420, and T421, a group of formerly undocumented whales that had never been recorded here. These three mystery whales captured attention after spending 4 days in Vancouver Harbor in BC, Canada.

Here is the replay of our encounter with T419, T420, and T421 from last week! Footage was taken at Satlwater State Park in Des Moines, WA, and Dash Point State Park in Federal Way, WA. Subscribe for updates! youtu.be/E7sis8f8XTA?si…

Photo: L105 Fluke, L91 Muncher, L110 Midnight, L106 Pooka

🚨URGENT & TIME SENSITIVE ACTION ALERT🚨 Submit a comment to protect the Endangered Species Act! The public comment period closes on December 22, 2025, at 11:59 EST. To learn more about all the proposed changes and how to submit a comment, visit: orcaconservancy.org/blog/action-al…

New orca calf born into southern resident’s K-Pod kiro7.com/news/local/new…

Officials urge residents to look out for invasive Chinese mitten crabs in WA waterways kiro7.com/news/local/off…

Photo taken by Orca Conservancy staff Tamara Kelley

NEW CALF SPOTTED IN K POD!!! This afternoon, we were viewing K Pod when we spotted a very small & very orange calf amongst the K14s & K12s. We still need to go through our footage, but it appeared that the calf was primarily traveling with K36 Yoda.

The Center for Whale Research (CWR) will assign the calf an alphanumeric ID—likely K47, as K46 was used in the historical catalog. Per their protocol, CWR will also confirm the calf’s maternity after it has been observed in three separate encounters.

From our perspective on shore, the calf appears to look robust and energetic. We observed it surfacing often on its own and zipping around the large group of Ks. This new calf is the first calf born into K Pod since 2022.

We want to give a special thank you to our Board President and environmental law expert, Steve Christianson, J.D., and his support team for spending the last several months putting the petition together and filing with the State, making this possible!

Read the petition here: orcaconservancy.org/blog/protectin…

🚨 Announcement 🚨 Orca Conservancy has officially filed a petition with the State of California to list the Southern Resident killer whales (SRKWs) as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act.