#dailyorca

[dailyorca]

daily orca 88: Female Ross Sea Orca

gif: rainbowwinds (via stumpyx163)

in 2009, an unnamed female ross sea orca was recorded surfacing repeatedly with two calves, one on each side of her. this suggests that she was the mother of both calves, making them twins. if this is the case, it would be an exceptional phenomenon, as twin births are almost unheard of in cetaceans, especially orcas. orca calves are highly dependent on their mothers and take a lot of effort to care for, so a mother is usually unable to care for two. it is unknown if this female's calves are truly twins, or if she adopted one or both of them.

the video can be watched here.

gif: rainbowwinds (via stumpyx163)

sources: 1, 2

[dailyorca]

Hi! Humbly requesting Delphine and the other orcas that spend time around the Crozet Islands! Keep up the great posts!

daily orca 135: CR004 “Delphine”

photo: Killer Whales: Up Close and Personal

delphine is an 40 year old crozet islands orca. she is most known for her starring role in the 2000 documentary Killer Whales: Up Close and Personal, which was recorded when delphine was around 14. the documentary centers around delphine's trials and tribulations as a young orca learning to hunt and fit in with her family.

delphine was born in 1986 to lison, who was also the mother of rodion and possibly venus. in 1988, delphine stranded as a small calf and had to be rescued by french scientists. since then, the family has trusted divers to come unusually close to them, allowing for the filming of the documentary. delphine stranded again at ~14 years old, though she successfully refloated with the assistance of her family.

today, delphine is matriarch of the CR002s and has three calves: CR199, born in 2012; CR238, born in 2015; and CR257, born in 2020.

photo: Killer whales of the Crozet Archipelago and adjacent waters

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

[dailyorca]

daily orca 117: J27 “Blackberry”

photo: Gary Sutton (via KWW)

blackberry is a 34 year old southern resident. he is one of the most well known southern residents thanks to his tall dorsal fin and recognizable saddle patch. he was born in 1991 to blossom and ruffles. he is part of the J11 matriline, consisting of his sister tsuchi and brother mako, who blackberry and tsuchi both helped raise. blackberry also has a niece, tsuchi’s daughter tofino. blossom passed away in 2008.

the J11s most often travel with the J22s and J17s. blackberry was born around the same time as mike, who is part of the J16s, and the two are sometimes seen swimming together.

photo: Miles Ritter (via OWPS)

sources: 1, 2, 3

[dailyorca]

daily orca 76: L129

photo: Center for Whale Research

L129 is the youngest southern resident orca, having been born just two days ago on february 16th, 2026. they were first seen in the strait of juan de fuca near race rocks, swimming with the L55s. L129 was seen traveling alongside nugget, as well as with nugget's daughter lapis. lapis is the more likely mother, as nugget is 49 years old. if L129 is lapis' calf, they would be her second offspring.

source: 1

[dailyorca]

daily orca 80: Stumpy

photo: BBC (via The Dodo)

stumpy is a norwegian orca missing his dorsal and right pectoral fins. he was born in 1995 and first seen with 1996 with his mother. at this time, stumpy had severe spine and dorsal fin injuries caused by a boat strike. he was not seen again for many years and was thought to have died, until stumpy was spotted in tysfjord in 2002 when he was seven.

stumpy does not appear to travel with one set matriline; instead, he swims with several different families, at least five. as his disabilities make it difficult for him to swim and hunt food on his own, stumpy is fed and cared for by the orcas he travels with. orcas have been seen bringing fish to him. in addition, adults were seen pushing stumpy away from boats or leading him away from them.

photo: Heike Vester / Ocean Sounds

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

[dailyorca]

daily orca 125: Junior

photo: HaH (via IW)

junior was a twelve year old icelandic orca who lived at marineland canada. at around age two, in 1984, he was captured from berufjörður along with four other orcas. he was sent to the hafnarfjörður aquarium, where he stayed for a year before he and kandu were transferred to marineland canada. at marineland, the other orcas were aggressive toward junior, until he himself also became aggressive. this, along with being difficult to train, led to junior being moved to the warehouse in 1989.

the warehouse was a small indoor pool isolated from the others, with dim lighting, no windows, and no sunlight or fresh air. it was used to store animals who were seen as unuseful, required training, or who the facility didn’t have enough space for.

junior was never kept with orcas again for the rest of his life. he was briefly housed with bottlenose dolphins, though they were sometimes aggressive towards him. other than that period, junior was completely isolated. he also received no enrichment or stimulation other than from his trainers. over the years, the warehouse tank became rusted, while the water became green and cloudy. junior passed away in 1994 from brain damage, after five years in the warehouse.

photo: HaH (via IW)

sources: 1, 2, 3

[dailyorca]

daily orca 94: NZ15 “Corkscrew”

photo: Orca Research Trust (via Killer Whale Wiki)

corkscrew is a male new zealand orca. he is notable for his dorsal fin, which has a distinctive zig-zag shape as well as a notch in the leading edge. corkscrew mainly travels with nicky and ragged top.

photo: Dolphin Encounter (via newzealandorca)

sources: 1, 2

[dailyorca]

daily orca 100: W008 “Aquarius”

photo: Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (via Killer Whale Wiki)

aquarius is an adult male orca part of the west coast community, and is one of only two remaining members of this population. the other is john coe, who aquarius is often seen traveling with. aquarius was born sometime after 1990, and is over 30 years old.

the west coast community of orcas is a scottish population of orcas found around the UK and ireland. they originally numbered around 20 members in the 1980s, but this count steadily decreased over time. no females of the population were ever seen with a calf, nor has the population ever been sighted interacting with orcas from other populations. by 2016, only aquarius and john coe remained; as both are males, the west coast community is functionally extinct.

photo: Ewan Miles (Hebridean Whale & Dolphin Trust)

sources: 1, 2, 3