It has been a sad day as the Center for Whale Research announced that L84 is missing from the Southern Resident community of orcas, along with J17 and K25, bringing the total population down to 73. News release at: https://www.whaleresearch.com/july2019population
Thanks to Cindy Hansen for sharing her thoughts below on the news of the loss of L84, Nyssa. ❤️ To help us through these losses, we must all gather our strength and continue to move forward doing anything we can to bring back the salmon for the Southern Resident orcas...
The end of a matriline is a truly tragic event in a population full of tragedies. And what a beautiful amazing matriline it was back in the day. L5 Tanya with her big handsome sons L58 Sparky and L73 Flash. The three of them were so tight knit. Cousin L74 Saanich was usually nearby with his mother L3 Oriana. Those three boys were so impressive together and I looked forward to seeing them whenever I was on the water.
When L84 Nyssa’s mother L51 Nootka died, witnesses reported that they had seen Saanich and his nephew Nyssa trying to feed Nyssa’s orphaned sibling pieces of salmon. But L97 was an infant and he or she also perished.
They are all gone now. A wonderful family that is now an empty space in an ID guide that has more tombstones than photos of living whales. We thought L84 had beaten the odds by adopting a new surrogate mother and some new brothers after the rest of his family died. And I guess for a while he did. I’m glad he had them at the end. Such a sad sweet story.
Please don’t let them be forgotten. We have to keep these stories alive even when the whales are no longer here to show us. RIP Nyssa. You will be deeply missed my friend.
Cindy Hansen, longtime educator, naturalist, Orca Network Education Coordinator and friend of the orcas
Photos by Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network Sighting Network Coordinator