As of last week, the Vancouver Aquarium Wild Killer Whale Adoption Program added six new killer whale calves (or babies) – five born in 2010 and one born in 2007 – to its adoption list. These calves have just been named and are now available for adoption. The new calves were all born to mothers already in the Aquarium’s adoption program.
What is the Vancouver Aquarium Wild Killer Whale Adoption Program? It’s a great way to support the Aquarium’s field research on wild killer whales, which requires a high level of resources. By adopting a wild killer whale, you are partnering with the Aquarium on its ground-breaking killer whale research efforts.
One may ask why calves born in 2010 are just now being added to the adoption program. The typical survival rate of killer whale calves in the first year of life is low, so it is important to first wait until the calves have survived a full year and have been re-sighted the following summer by researchers before they are added to the program.
The new calves born in 2010 now available for adoption are: Rainy (A96), the the sixth calf of Simoom (A34); Kalect (A97), the first calf of Nahwitti (A56); Kiwash (D26), the second calf of Fisher (D17); Nuchatlitz (G94), the the first calf of Tatchu (G52); and Notch (J47), the first calf of Tahlequah (J35). Additionally, Radar (G84), born in 2007 as the third calf of Sharbau (G31), is now available for adoption.
How do we know who’s who? The killer whales that roam the British Columbia coast have all been individually identified by researchers. Each whale has been identified with an alpha-numeric scientific number and an adoption name. As in other years, the names have been selected by a committee of researchers. Most whales in the northern resident community are named after specific places off the coast of British Columbia and within the range of where the killer whales are typically seen.