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Westerly News
TOFINO-UCLUELET
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
WesterlyNews.ca
Baby Orca found dead
$1.25 (including tax)
Calf not believed to be part of southern resident baby boom ANDREW BAILEY
andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca
A dead female orca calf was discovered at Mussel Beach on Dec. 23. “The teeth weren’t erupted on this calf so it was quite young,” DFO Marine Mammal Coordinator Paul Cottrell told the Westerly News. “Typically that means that it’s likely under three months of age…Of course there’s exceptions to that but we know it’s a relatively young animal for sure.” He said the animal weighed 158 kilograms—adult female orcas typically weigh around 4,000 kilograms—and the fact she was a female makes the tragedy especially concerning. “Females are so important because they’re the ones that are going to produce the calves that contribute to the population, the males are important socially but females are the ones, I think, that are especially important,” he said. Officials don’t yet know which population the young orca belonged to. British Columbia hosts four known populations: southern residents, northern residents, transients and offshores. Southern residents are listed as endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act with the other three populations listed as threatened, according to Cottrell. “All populations have special protection, action plans, and recovery strategies that are put in place to try to help these populations recover,” he said. “They’re very, very, different populations and they don’t tend to interact but they all are important and they all have limited numbers and we’re looking for recovery of those species so whenever we get a dead calf, regardless of which population or ecotype, it is important that we figure out what happened.” The endangered southern residents celebrated a baby boom in 2015 with eight new calves marking the population’s highest number of offspring produced since 1977.
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NORA O’MALLEY PHOTO
Tofitians sprinted into Chesterman’s cold winter waters to celebrate the annual New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim on Jan. 1. See more photos inside.
Tofino dives into 2016 Seventh annual Polar Bear Swim draws a crowd NORA O’MALLEY
nora.omalley@westerlynews.ca
A stampede of New Year’s well-wishers charged into Tofino’s frigid ocean on Jan. 1 to take part in the community’s seventh annual Polar Bear Swim at North Chesterman Beach. Sporting bikinis, boardshorts, animal onesies, and superhero costumes, the crowd of locals and tourists took their first ocean dip of 2016 in 8 C water temperatures, with the sun beating down and hot-chocolate waiting beachside. “I’ve been in Canada for a while now and this is my third New Year’s here, so it’s been my plan to do it eventually, so now I’m committing,” said Kristin Davis,
an Australian who opted to take the plunge in her baby blue unicorn costume. “It’s a really good way to start the New Year and we’re in Tofino, so why not? Let’s get crazy,” added Davis’ friend Isabelle Couture from Quebec. The free event was hosted by Coastal Bliss Yoga with help from the Surfrider Foundation and the District of Tofino. “It started with my husband and I just doing it on our own,” said event organizer April Robson. “The weather has always been amazing, so we’ve been so lucky that way. People get excited about it. It’s a fun thing to do for families and tourists.”