Dead Female Juvenile Orca near Long Beach, Washington is Victoria, *UPDATE*

Sunday, February 12, 2012

By Nicole Dungca, The Oregonian
A dead orca washed ashore Saturday near Long Beach, Wash., just weeks after two other whales were found dead on the beach.

The 12-foot female orca washed ashore about a mile north of the Cranberry approach, Tiffany Boothe of the Seaside Aquarium wrote in an e-mail. She said that obvious external signs of decomposition confirmed the whale had been dead for a while, and the animal was moved for a necropsy, which was performed Sunday by Portland State University biology professor Debbie Duffield and Cascadia Research biologists.

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Courtesy of Tiffany Boothe/Seaside AquariumThe body of a 12-foot female orca washed ashore near Long Beach, Wash, about a mile north of the Cranberry beach approach, on Saturday. A Portland State University biology professor and Cascadia Research biologists performed a necropsy Sunday on the animal.

 
The necropsy revealed hemorrhaging, indicating major trauma, Boothe wrote.
 
The whale’s exact age was not confirmed, but the size indicates she was between 3 and 6 years old. Boothe said the whale could be a resident belonging to the “L pod,” but that has not been confirmed by photo identification and DNA testing.

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Dead Orca Calf is Three Year Old Victoria, One of the Endangered Southern Resident Orcas

This young orca’s death following traumatic injuries has left everyone puzzled – there are only two predators that could inflict this kind of damage: another whale, or humans. Did she get hit by a boat? Have her hearing blown by underwater noise? Was she attacked by unrelated transient (dolphin eating) whales? We may never know, but hopes are high that her death will yield information about the diet, contaminants, genealogy, and stressors on this population of orcas.

That is little comfort though, and her death is another blow to the struggling population.

Little Victoria, L-112, was named for the beautiful city waterfront where she was first seen in January 2009. She had grown into a robust juvenile.

Playing with mom, L-86

L112 with big brother L106 Photo by Ken Balcomb on September 11, 2011

A detailed external and internal examination was conducted on February 12, 2012 of a stranded killer whale that washed up just north of Long Beach, Washington on the morning of February 11. The 12’3″ (3.75m) juvenile female was taken to a secure location for a full necropsy by biologists and volunteers from a number of organizations that are part of the Northwest Marine Mammal Stranding Network, including Portland State University, Cascadia Research, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Mammal Investigations, Seaside Aquarium, Seattle Seal Sitters, the Makah Tribe, and NOAA Fisheries.

The whale was moderately decomposed and in good overall body condition.

Internal exam revealed significant trauma around the head, chest and right side; at this point the cause of these injuries is unknown.

There have been reports of sonar activity in the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the past week and a half and members of K and L pod were reportedly in the area at the time as well.

We do not know if this whale was among those in the area but the possibility is under consideration. The skeleton will be cleaned and closely evaluated by Portland State University for signs of fracture and the head has been retained intact for biological scanning. Additionally, samples were taken for a variety of analyses: genetics, contaminants, bacteriology, virology, food habits, biotoxins and histopathology. The processing of these tissue samples could take several weeks or months and will hopefully provide insight into the origin of the traumatic injuries or other factors that may have contributed to the death of this whale.

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Last month, a 

39-foot sperm whale and 13-foot newborn gray whale washed ashore in Washington, and a newborn orca was found dead ashore in November.

Dead Juvenile Orca Found on Long Beach, Wa.

The tide brought in an unwelcome sight on Saturday – nestled on the sand was the body of another young orca (the first was a young offshore type that washed up in November), possibly one of the Southern Resident population.

Although there is speculation that this is one of the L pod members, it is way too early to know – it could be another offshore or even a transient type. Scientists rarely speculate on the origins until the necropsy results are in, but there are definite physical differences in the three types that may have indicated a higher probability that this in one of the Residents, so it is not the best news that they were willing to speculate in this case.

The only upside is that the body washed up where it could be found at all since usually the orcas just disappear and their deaths are only known when they fail to show up with their family members and/or are not observed during seasonal censuses.

Long Beach is close to the Oregon border, so officials from Seaside Aquarium were contacted.

From The Oregonian: A dead orca washed ashore Saturday near Long Beach, Wash., just weeks after two other whales were found dead on the beach.

The 12-foot female orca washed ashore about a mile north of the Cranberry approach, Tiffany Boothe of the Seaside Aquarium wrote in an e-mail. She said that obvious external signs of decomposition confirmed the whale had been dead for a while, and the animal was moved for a necropsy, which was performed Sunday by Portland State University biology professor Debbie Duffield and Cascadia Research biologists.

The necropsy revealed hemorrhaging, indicating major trauma, Boothe wrote.

“Obvious external signs of decomposition confirmed that the animal had been dead for a while before washing ashore,” Boothe said. “The exact age of the whale has yet to be determined but the size indicates that the animal was no more than six years old and maybe as young as three.”

Scientists from the Network think it’s likely the whale was part of the L pod, which along with a handful of other pods are residents of the San Juan Islands off the Washington coast. Further DNA testing will be done on the female to confirm this, however.

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