Dozens of southern resident orcas spotted off the West Coast, photos show

Researchers spotted dozens of southern resident killer whales off the coast of Victoria, B.C., in the second sighting of orcas in 2021, according to the Center for Whale Research.

Mark Malleson and Joe Zelwietro ventured out into the vicinity of Constance Bank after Malleson spotted a group of killer whales traveling eastbound Wednesday morning, the research group says.

The first two whales encountered were identified as J38 and K44, “traveling side-by-side and confirming suspicions that the animals were southern residents,” according to the research group.

The researchers then spotted J40 in a small group of females and young orcas, including J41, J51 and J58, the group says. Several other southern residents who are part of the J pod were spotted not far from them, according to the group.

After capturing photos of the J pod orcas, the researchers went in the direction of a couple of bull orcas, “looking for more of the whales that had been present for recent southern resident encounters,” the group says. Due to the difficult currents, the researchers decided to head back to Victoria, collecting IDs along the way, according to the group.

Two of the southern residents were seen “chasing fish and appeared to catch at least one (and possibly a second),” the group says. The first whale sighting of 2021 happened on Jan. 3, according to the group.

“Between them, [the researchers] managed to confirm many of the 34 animals from the previous few weeks,” the group says.

Resident killer whales eat fish and are mostly found along the coasts of the North Pacific Ocean, the Marine Mammal Commission says. Three resident populations live in the eastern North Pacific, including the Alaska residents, northern residents and southern residents, according to the commission.

The southern residents, the smallest of the resident populations, are usually found near British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, but they also travel along the outer coast to forage, the commission says. There were 74 southern resident killer whales as of September 2020, according to the commission.

The southern resident population has declined steadily over the last 20 years and “is most likely due to three distinct threats: decreased quantity and quality of prey, the presence of persistent organic pollutants and disturbance from vessel presence and noise,” the commission says. Southern residents were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 2005, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries.

This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Dozens of southern resident orcas spotted off the West Coast, photos show."