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Japanese whaling ship

Infamous whale slaughter ship docks for the final time

The whaling ship, Nisshin Maru has returned to the port of Shimonoseki for the final...
Sperm whale

Dominica announces new protections for sperm whales

Dominica has placed almost 800 square kilometers of sea off the west coast of the...
Porpoise dies after becoming entangled in fishing net

UK government rejects chance to protect whales and dolphins

The government has formally rejected almost all of the crucial recommendations made in a House...
Common dolphins © Christopher Swann

Ocean areas selected for conservation are now in danger says task force

The international task force celebrating 10 years of work mapping out Important Marine Mammal Areas...

Longest-known surviving wild orca dies

2017 has begun with the sad news that Granny (J2), an orca thought to be over 100 years old, has died in the last couple of months.

Granny was a member of the endangered southern resident population of orcas, made up of the J, K and L pods, that live off the Pacific Northwest coast of the USA and Canada. Her loss means the population now has only 78 surviving members, while the J pod which she led, has 24 individuals. One member of the L pod, Lolita (also known as Tokitae), is held in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium.

Colleagues at the Center for Whale Research (who have written a moving obituary), last saw Granny on October 12th. They had estimated Granny’s age to be around 76 years old in 1987, meaning that she was around 105 at the time of her death. 

The announcement of Granny’s death comes just weeks after another member of the J pod, an 18-year-old male orca known as Double Stuf (J34), was found dead. It means that in total the population lost seven orcas (around 8%) in 2016.

The future for the the Southern Resident orcas remains a major concern – find out how you can help by supporting our MigrationNation campaign to remove four dams on the Snake River, restoring an important salmon river that provides much-needed food for the Southern Residents.

About George Berry

George is a member of WDC's Communications team and website coordinator.