Male Orca Missing

A 31-year-old killer whale name Faith — a large male who was the most recognizable orca among the "Dyes Inlet whales" — has gone missing, portending the likelihood that another Puget Sound killer whale has died.

Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research says he will hold out hope until spring for L-57, as he is known among researchers. But it's an ominous sign that the two females he generally travels with — L-7 or Canuck, and L-53 or Lulu — have been sighted several times in the U.S. and Canada since October, yet Faith is nowhere to be found.

Usually no whale is counted truly 'missing' until at least spring. It would be unusual for a resident not to return by spring, but it actually has happened in the past.

I am holding out and hoping he will be alright.














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