Your guide to the latest news from around the Northwest
January 15, 2013 at 2:45 PM
Dead orca calf was member of endangered population
The Associated Press
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service says a dead newborn orca calf found on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula last week belongs to a population of endangered killer whales.
The agency said Tuesday that scientists are trying to determine what killed the 7 ½-foot-long male calf. He was found on a Dungeness Spit beach.
An initial DNA analysis showed the calf was a member of the southern resident killer whales that spend summer months in Puget Sound.
NOAA spokesman Brian Gorman says the death is not unusual and that mortality rates among killer whales tends to be high.
Comments | More in Environment, General news | Topics: death, endangered, Olympic Peninsula
More from Environment
- May 17 - 11:10 AM The state’s best parks
- May 14 - 3:51 PM State fines Bellevue gun shop $23K for exposing staff to lead
- May 8 - 6:09 PM McGinn declares “Million Gallon Challenge” to reduce Seattle’s CO2 emissions
- May 6 - 9:08 PM Bag ban opponents collecting signatures in Shoreline, too
- May 6 - 8:44 AM Cooler winds helping Washington firefighters
About The Today File
Seattle Times Needle cam
Trending with readers
On Facebook
Recent Activity
Multimedia
Google+
