The southern resident orca population has fallen to only 73 after three adult killer whales were presumed dead as of July 1, 2019 by colleagues at the Center for Whale Research. That is down from a high of 98 just 20 years ago.
The orcas have historically frequented the Salish Sea in summer months, but a scarcity of suitable Chinook salmon has led the whales to disappear from those waters, the salmon population has plummeted by nearly a third over the last twenty years and not getting their prey is a major problem for the whales. One female known as J17 is one of the three missing and survived by two daughters and a son. Drone images showed she had a condition called peanut head, which is a sign of malnutrition.
The other two missing orcas are 28-year-old adult male K25 and L84, a 29-year-old adult male. That’s one killer whale from each pod of the resident orcas and a huge blow for the critically endangered whales, which can live to be more than 80 years old.
