L111 confirmed female

Center for Whale Resaerch staff encountered J's, K's and L's traveling southwest from False Bay at 4:52 p.m., August 15 2008. The whales were spread out in tight groups. The first group encountered was the L22's just north of Eagle Point. The next group encountered was the L47's with new calf L111. L47, L83, L91 and L110 were traveling tight with the new calf , exhibiting a lot of social and tactile behavior. L47 was observed pushing L111 around on her rostrum which allowed Center staff to get a photo of the calf's underbelly and determine that L111 is a female. As seen in the above photographs, she still has a piece of her umbilical cord attached. The L47's were shortly joined by K21, K16 and K35 who also appeared to be playing with the calf. The animals were very tactile, rolling around and breaching. J pod as well as the L12's and the rest of the K's were reported in the area but were not seen or documented by the Center staff. The encounter ended at 6:00 p.m., north of Hein Bank. The whales continued traveling southwest.

New calf in L pod! L111, discovered August 12, 2008

Center for Whale Research discoverd a new calf in L pod, early afternoon, August 12, 2008. The new calf, designated L111, is the 6th calf of L47. L111 joins sisters L83 and L91 and nephew L110 as the newest member of the L21 subgroup. L47, at age 34, is not only a new mother but also a grandmother. Her last calf, L107, was born in the summer of 2005 but did not survive more than a few months. Based on L111's size and the apparent featal folds (visable in the above photographs), Center for Whale Research staff believe the calf to have been be only a few hours old. Also, L47 was observed by Center staff without a calf in the evening of August 11, aditionally indicating that L111 was born less than 24 hours before its discovery. The total number of individuals in L pod has yet to be determined this year, however the Center has proposed that there may be at least two L pod whales missing this year. Therefore, this is an important event in L pod and the Center staff is hopefull that the calf will survive. As of December 2007, there are 43 whales in L pod. If L111 returns to the San Juan Islands next summer, it will be officially counted in the population.