A baby boom isn’t letting up for an endangered orca population off B.C.’s coast.
The Washington-based Center for Whale Research says the J pod of Southern Resident killer whales has welcomed a new calf, dubbed J54.
The calf was first spotted Dec. 1, but researchers weren’t able to verify it until Wednesday.
The research group posted photos to Facebook of the calf swimming in the Haro Strait, between the San Juan Islands and Vancouver Island.
The new addition brings the J pod’s population to 84.
It is the eighth known birth for Southern Resident orcas in the last year, and follows the birth of a calf in L pod two weeks ago.
Researchers say it has been nearly 40 years since they have seen this many births in one year.
