Experts say two orcas ailing, may not last

SEATTLE — Two more Puget Sound orcas are ailing and probably will be dead by summer, according an expert on the critically endangered population of killer whales that live in the waters of the Pacific Northwest. Drone photography taken in September showed the ailing population of orcas known as the southern residents went into the winter thinner than they were when the whales arrived in the San Juan Islands last summer. They also are thinner than Puget Sound’s so-called northern resident population of killer whales, which have been steadily growing in population for the past 40 years in their home waters primarily in northern British Columbia and southeast Alaska, where they have access to more fish and cleaner and quieter water. The northern residents gave birth to 10 new calves last year. The Seattle Times reported that Center for Whale Research founding director Ken Balcomb said photos taken of a southern resident orca known as J17 on New Year’s Eve showed a 42-year-old female has a so-called peanut head — a misshapen head and neck caused by starvation. In addition a 27-year-old male known as K25 is failing, also from lack of sufficient food. He lost his mother, K13, in 2017 and is not successfully foraging on his own. Several southern resident whales were documented to be pregnant in September, but so far there has been no sign of babies. The southern residents have not had a successful pregnancy in three years.