A5 Pod - Losses

Losses

The A5 Pod has suffered many losses and deaths over the years. Besides losing a generation of whales to captivity, one young whale, A57 (Kelkpa) was found on the 16th of December in 1996 in a bay in BC. She died that day and became the first orca of the population to die of a known cause: she died of erysipelas. In 1973, a young whale was hit by a ferry from British Columbia. Two older whales supported the young one and helped it to breathe. The whale was sighted 15 days later, with the other two still holding it up, then was never seen again. This was presumed by the researchers to be the young whale A21, also an A5 Pod whale.

Also, on July 27, 2003, a young male, A60 (Fife), Corky's brother, was injured by what was assumed to be a boat propeller. By 2004, the injury was well-healed, but left scarring all along his right side.