Grandma killer whale — the leader of her orca pod — is feared dead, researchers say
Marina, a grandmother killer whale and leader of her Southern Resident pod, has been missing and presumed dead, researchers said.
The nearly 47-year-old orca was last spotted by researchers on Feb. 27 in the Swanson Channel in British Columbia, Center for Whale Research wrote in a news release on Monday.
Her absence could have a devastating effect on her pod.
At the time of her last sighting, her condition did not appear especially poor, the agency said.
The killer whale was not accounted for in the organization’s 2021 census. And she wasn’t seen during surveys organized by Fisheries and Oceans Canada earlier this summer, the organization said.
However, researchers located and photographed Marina’s children and grandchildren six times during the month of September.
Her absence from these encounters and surveys meets the organization’s criteria for declaring her missing and “likely deceased,” the agency said.
If that’s the case, her death may have “severe consequences” on the L pod.
The Southern Resident killer whales include three pods — J, K and L — to differentiate the different “clans” or families, according to the Center for Whale Research.
Each pod centers around an older female, like a grandmother or great-grandmother, and they use distinct sounds to communicate.
Marina held an important leadership role in her pod because she was the oldest female. Now her family faces “an increased risk of death in the coming years,” particularly if the orca pod deals with a period of food scarcity, the organization said.
Typically the matriarch of the group holds knowledge about important food resources, the National Geographic reported. However, with salmon populations dropping and her recent death, researchers estimate that her son faces a three times higher risk of death in the next two years.
Her grandsons face a “six-fold increase in their risk of death in the next two years, assuming coast-wide salmon abundance is at historical averages,” the agency said.
Marina was born in 1974. She had the most surviving calves to be given names among the Southern Resident orcas.
She has three living children, including one son and two daughters, and two male grandchildren.
Following Marina’s death as well as another recent male’s death, 73 Southern Resident killer whales remain, the Center for Whale Research reported.
This story was originally published September 21, 2021 at 11:48 AM with the headline "Grandma killer whale — the leader of her orca pod — is feared dead, researchers say."
