sciencetech-blog

comments

Living along the west coast of America is good for your health - if you're a killer whale.

An orca called Granny, who is matriarch of a group called the Southern Resident Killer Whales in the North Pacific Ocean, is thought to have reached the ripe old age of 103.

Although her age is an estimate, studies into her reproductive history have plotted her birth all the way back to 1911.

Experts have been studying whales in the North Pacific Ocean, called the Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) since the early 1970s. Granny, pictured, is said to be the matriarch of the group and was spotted in the Strait of Georgia at the weekend

Granny was spotted in the Strait of Georgia on Sunday and is thought to have travelled up from California with her pod, dubbed J-Pod.

It is the first time Granny, officially known as J2, had returned to the northwest since the 3 March, according to Captain Simon Pidcock of Ocean Eco Ventures Whale Watching.

He captured the images using a telephoto lens.

Pidcock said he recognised Granny because she has a white patch on the dorsal fin alongside a half-moon shape.

News of the Granny's return was announced by the Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA).

Executive director Michael Harris said J-Pod had travelled up from the coast of California, near the mouth of the Russian River, where it was spotted eight days before Pidcock's sighting. 

This means the pod covered around 800 miles in just over a week.

Pidcock said: 'We were thrilled to see her. And it's mind-blowing to think that this whale is over 100 years old.  She was born before the Titanic went down. Can you imagine the things she's seen in her lifetime?'

Granny, pictured, is thought to be 103 years old. Although her age is an estimate, studies into her reproductive history have plotted her birth all the way back 1911. The sighting was the first time Granny had returned to the northwest since the 3 March, according to Captain Simon Pidcock of Ocean Ecoventures

Experts said Granny's pod, called J-Pod, travelled up from the coast of California, near the mouth of the Russian River, marked at A, where it was spotted eight days before Pidcock's sighting in the Strait of Georgia, marked at B. This means the pod covered around 800 miles in just over a week

The average lifespan of a wild orca is between 60 and 80 years, but other members of the Southern Residents have lived almost equally as long lives as Granny, including female Ocean Sun and Lummi, who died aged 85 and 98 respectively. 

Other Southern Resident orcas including Tokitae, who lives in Miami Seaquarium, and Northern Resident orca Corky in SeaWorld San Diego, are both the oldest killer whales in captivity, aged around 50 years old.

Researchers began studying the resident orcas in the early 1970s.

Pidcock said he recognised Granny because she has a white patch on the dorsal fin alongside a half-moon notch. Granny is the whale in the rear of this photo. News of the Granny's return was announced by the Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA)

The average lifespan of a wild orca is between 60 and 80 years, but other members of the Southern Residents have lived almost equally as long lives as Granny, pictured, including female Ocean Sun and Lummi, who died aged 85 and 98 respectively

At that time they had photos of Ruffles, known as J1, and Granny taken in 1971. Their relative size suggests they were both fully grown adults when the photo was taken.

This meant they were both at least 20 years old in 1971.

Experts at the time said Ruffles was the younger or the two, and due to their association, this suggested Granny was Ruffles' mother.

If Ruffles was at least 20 in 1971, she would have been born in 1951 and since Granny was not spotted with any more children after this date, the researchers assumed that Ruffles was her final calf.

Female killer whales stop producing at around the age of 40, which means if Ruffles was born in 1951, and Granny was 40 at that time her birth year would be 1911.