Killer whale baby boom: 4th calf spotted near Tofino

Whale watchers on Canada's West Coast are celebrating the confirmed sighting of a fourth killer whale calf born to the endangered southern resident population this year.

The calf, named L-121, was spotted on June 1 with L-Pod near Cox Beach south of Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The sighting was welcome news, because L-Pod lost one calf and a three-year-old female in recent years, and L-121, which was first spotted in February, wasn't seen the last time the pod was observed off the coast of Oregon by NOAA Fisheries scientists.

Marcie Callewaert, a naturalist with the Victoria Marine Science Association said she spent a couple of hours with the pod on Monday.

"L-121 was present and as energetic as ever," said Callewaert in a statement from the Pacific Whale Watch Association.

Hope for a recovery

After years of population decline, the recent sighting combined with three other calves born to J-Pod this spring, puts the population of wild southern resident orcas at 81.

• Newborn orca J50 spotted swimming in Puget Sound
• New orca calf born to endangered southern resident pod

"We're thrilled of course," said Michael Harris, the executive director of the PWWA which represents 32 operators in Washington and British Columbia in the statement.

"Many of us had concerns about this little whale, not just because of the problems L-Pod has had in recent years, but generally the odds baby orcas have out there.

"We always remind people that wild killer whales have a 50 per cent mortality rate half don't make it through their first year. And just in its first few months in life, this baby had a lot of big water to battle."

"I'm one of those who think that the southerns have finally turned the corner. We've got a real chance of bringing these whales back. And hey, maybe if that baby whale can make it, this population can."