We were out in the Goose Group doing research on Steller Sea Lions and there were definitely more Killer Whales around than normal, as the Chinook return that year was record breaking. We did ID one specific whale, A73 “Springer, ” a whale so famous for her story (http://www.vanaqua.org/act/direct-action/marine-mammal-rescue/success-stories/springer) and we were able to see that she had a calf. Springer was a mom! It turned out that we ended up being the first researchers to see that she had had a calf. Within about 30 minutes of reporting this sighting all the orca researchers were there but it was fun to have the bragging rights of discovering A104 “Spirit” and knowing that a bunch of sea lion biologists were the first people to find out about this amazing birth. The entire world picked up on that story, it went all around the globe. Seeing mothers and calves, its very exciting.
-Andrew
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