Granny was sighted with other whales on 27 July in the Salish Sea
Scientists have been studying the remarkable cetacean since 1971
Officially known as J2, she is the oldest known orca in the world
Typically killer whales live to between the age of 60 and 80 in the wild
Born one
year before the ill-fated Titanic struck an iceberg, the world's oldest
known killer whale has been spotted off the coast of Washington.
Experts spied the 105-year orca nicknamed 'Granny' with other whales on 27 July in the Salish Sea.
Scientists
have been studying the remarkable cetacean since 1971 when they
estimated she was 60 years old and gave her the official name of J2
Experts have been
studying whales in the North Pacific Ocean, called the Southern Resident
Killer Whales (SRKW) since the early 1970s. Granny, pictured in 2014,
is said to be the matriarch of the group and was spotted in the Strait
of Georgia at the weekend
HOW DID EXPERTS DETERMINE GRANNY’S AGE?
Researchers began studying the resident orcas in the early 1970s.
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, meaning they were both at least 20 years old in 1971.
Experts
at the time said Ruffles was the younger of the two, and due to their
association, 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 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.
Her
presence has stunned scientists because killer whales, or orcas,
typically live to between the age of 60 and 80 in the wild.
Granny is a matriarch of a group called the Southern Resident Killer Whales in the Pacific Ocean.
Experts
from Ocean EcoVentures Whale Watching were able to identify her thanks
to a marking on her dorsal fin, as well as as a half-moon-shaped notch.
They said in a blog post: 'J2 and and her family have spent the past few weeks foraging and travelling the Georgia Strait.'
Simon Pidcock, from the company, added: 'Granny has been swimming pretty much non-stop for over 100 years.
'The Southern Residents on average travel about 72 miles in a 24-hour period day in, day out.
'This means in Granny’s lifetime she has swam around the world the equivalent of a 100 times.'
In 2014, Granny was spotted in the Strait of Georgia, when she was thought to have travelled up from California with her pod.
Her return to the area for the first time in years was announced by the Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA).
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are discreet