The J Pod of orcas has a new baby with them, the Center for Whale Researchannounced on Tuesday.
"Official Confirmation! Good news for the end of 2014! New baby in J pod - J16 has a new calf!!!" they said via Facebook.
The mother is J16, nicknamed "Slick," who is more than 40 years old. The Orca Network's Executive Director Howard Garrett said the baby is a day or two old.
The calf was seen "snuggled in (her mother's) slipstream and looking healthy and energetic," Orca Network said.
The joy of a confirmed sighting of a new orca calf is always accompanied by several nervous days. Young orcas often don't live more than a few weeks and it has been three years since one has lived more than a few months.
If Slick is the mother she is an experienced one. She already has three healthy children and she is believed to be over 40 years old.
J-Pod suffered a serious setback earlier this month when a pregnant female was found dead in Canadian waters. That loss dipped the population of the three Southern Resident pods; J, K and L, to 77.
The Southern Residents spend much of their lives in the Salish Sea which is defined as the waters of Washington State's Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the San Juan Islands as well as British Columbia's Gulf Islands and the Strait of Georgia.
The Center for Whale Research said the new baby was seen swimming alongside its mom and its eight year old sister (J42) in Swanson Channel, Canadian Gulf Islands, British Columbia, near Thieve's Bay, South Pender Island.
