How old really was granny? Google keeps showing me peta shit saying she was over 100
She was more likely between 65-80 years old, based of fatty acid analysis of a biopsy sample. Still impressively old, and significantly longer than many other female orcas.
The “105-years-old” factoid came from the outdated assumption that Granny’s close companion, J1 “Ruffles,” was her adult son. They were first photographed together in the 1970s, when both were adults. However, DNA later revealed the two were not mother and son.
No orca has ever been documented to live 100 years. It is certainly possible—we simply haven’t been studying them long enough to follow an individual from birth to death over the course of a century. However, there have been enough individuals tracked until their deaths in their 40s-60s to know that, if it is possible for them to reach 100, it’s exceedingly rare. L25 “Ocean Sun” is presumed (though not proven) to be in her late 90s, and she is over 40 years older than the second oldest living Southern Resident. These ancient individuals are exceptional. And that means they’re outliers, and should not be included in statistical analysis.
But 105 years sounds a lot cooler than 80 (or 65), so that’s why it’s still brought up a lot. Google AI summary, which is as far as most people read unfortunately, also lists her age as 105, even if the very first paragraph of her Wikipedia article explains the 65-80 year estimate is the more accurate one.
