#dailyorca

gif: rainbowwinds (via stumpyx163)

in 2009, an unnamed female ross sea orca was recorded surfacing repeatedly with two calves, one on each side of her. this suggests that she was the mother of both calves, making them twins. if this is the case, it would be an exceptional phenomenon, as twin births are almost unheard of in cetaceans, especially orcas. orca calves are highly dependent on their mothers and take a lot of effort to care for, so a mother is usually unable to care for two. it is unknown if this female's calves are truly twins, or if she adopted one or both of them.

the video can be watched here.

gif: rainbowwinds (via stumpyx163)

(Mark Malleson / Center for Whale Research)

L130 is a young calf between the ages of one and three months old. they are currently the youngest southern resident, and the second calf born to L pod this year. L130 was first seen on june 14th, 2026, swimming mainly alongside muncher, a 31 year old female. L130 was also seen associating with moonlight, surprise, and jade. L130’s sex and maternity are not certain, but if they are muncher’s calf, they would be muncher’s second calf and the younger sibling to magic, who was born eleven years prior.

L130 was described as being energetic and interacting with other orcas, while also being well-fed and having decent fat reserves, signs of health. with the high mortality rate of southern resident calves, L130’s birth is met with cautious optimism.

(Center for Whale Research)

daily orca 135: CR004 “Delphine”

photo: Killer Whales: Up Close and Personal

delphine is an 40 year old crozet islands orca. she is most known for her starring role in the 2000 documentary Killer Whales: Up Close and Personal, which was recorded when delphine was around 14. the documentary centers around delphine's trials and tribulations as a young orca learning to hunt and fit in with her family.

delphine was born in 1986 to lison, who was also the mother of rodion and possibly venus. in 1988, delphine stranded as a small calf and had to be rescued by french scientists. since then, the family has trusted divers to come unusually close to them, allowing for the filming of the documentary. delphine stranded again at ~14 years old, though she successfully refloated with the assistance of her family.

today, delphine is matriarch of the CR002s and has three calves: CR199, born in 2012; CR238, born in 2015; and CR257, born in 2020.

photo: Killer whales of the Crozet Archipelago and adjacent waters

(hunter.d.photography via IW)

shouka is a 33 year old icelandic orca who lives at seaworld san diego. she was born to sharkane and kim II at marineland antibes in 1993, becoming the first orca calf to ever be successfully born in france. shouka was sharkane’s first calf, and soon gained three younger siblings: inouk, wikie, and half-brother valentin.

at nine years of age, shouka was transferred to six flags worlds of adventure in ohio. six flags had purchased seaworld ohio just a year before, and many of the same facilities and exhibits were kept, including the killer whale stadium.

in 2004, shouka was moved to six flags discovery kingdom in california. she had no orca companions here, only being housed with two bottlenose dolphins for nearly a decade until the dolphins were moved out due to shouka’s growing aggression. in july 2012 she lifted and threw a trainer out of the pool and onto the back of the stage. the next month, shouka was transferred to seaworld san diego. she bonded quickly with corky II and still lives at seaworld today, known for being able to mimic bottlenose dolphin calls and having upward-curving flukes.

(hunter.d.photography via IW)

(Jorge Cazenave via KWW)

sheuen was a 12 year old patagonian orca. she was born in 2010 to maga, the matriarch of the PTN-004s. she had five siblings: valen, mica, issy, arwell, and keoken. sheueun's name means sun in the tehuelche language. she was a skilled strander and would teach the method to younger orcas. she was also known to have a “wild” personality, sometimes choosing to scare sea lion pups off the beach instead of grabbing them.

in 2022, sheuen was showing signs of being pregnant with her first calf. however, on on august 22nd, 2022, when she was hunting sea lions, she stranded in cabo raso bay, argentina, and got stuck. rescuers attempted to refloat her, but she soon passed away. her pregnancy may have impeded her ability to maneuver herself back into the water.

(Jorge Cazenave via KWW)

photo: Gary Sutton (via KWW)

blackberry is a 34 year old southern resident. he is one of the most well known southern residents thanks to his tall dorsal fin and recognizable saddle patch. he was born in 1991 to blossom and ruffles. he is part of the J11 matriline, consisting of his sister tsuchi and brother mako, who blackberry and tsuchi both helped raise. blackberry also has a niece, tsuchi’s daughter tofino. blossom passed away in 2008.

the J11s most often travel with the J22s and J17s. blackberry was born around the same time as mike, who is part of the J16s, and the two are sometimes seen swimming together.

photo: Miles Ritter (via OWPS)

photo: Center for Whale Research

L129 is the youngest southern resident orca, having been born just two days ago on february 16th, 2026. they were first seen in the strait of juan de fuca near race rocks, swimming with the L55s. L129 was seen traveling alongside nugget, as well as with nugget's daughter lapis. lapis is the more likely mother, as nugget is 49 years old. if L129 is lapis' calf, they would be her second offspring.

(Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium via IW)

earth was a 16 year old icelandic orca who lived at the port of nagoya public aquarium. he was born in october 2008 at kamogawa sea world to lovey and oscar. earth’s younger sister, luna, was born in 2012 and the two were close. however, because earth would sometimes play too roughly with luna, lovey started displacing him. lovey’s aggression towards earth grew until earth was separated from the pod and moved to a back pool with oscar, who then passed away later that year. earth was briefly reunited with the pod, but was still met with aggression, so he was re-separated.

in 2015, earth was transferred to the port of nagoya public aquarium, where he lived with his grandmother stella, and stella’s daughter lynn. earth bonded with them but was increasingly separated from them as he grew, and would remain isolated for large portions of time, sometimes as much as a year. in 2024, stella was moved to kobe suma sea world, upon which lynn and earth were reunited.

during the summer of 2025, earth became lethargic, and soon passed away from an intestinal torsion. he’d been japan’s largest orca, and also japan’s last male orca. earth was known to be very gentle and had highly recognizable wavy, upturned flukes.

(o_r_t_a via IW)