On July 6 at the Whale Museum, Dr. Astrid Van Ginniken, who works with the Center for Whale Research, discussed the DNA findings of the Southern Residents. Ruffles was identified as the father of K21, Capaccino; K25, Scoter; L41, Mega; L57, Faith; L73, Flash; L74, Sanich; L78, Gaia and L85, Mystery.
Mega was identified as the father of J40, Suttles; J42, Echo; J35, Tahlequah; and K33, Keet. In addition one male, who has been identified as M2, is the father of J11, Blossom and J19, Shachi(making these two full siblings); K12, Sequim; K13, Skagit; and L60, Rascal. Another male identified as M4 is the father of J37, Hy'Shqa; J39, Mako; J41, Eclipse; J28 Polaris; J32, Rhapsody; K14, Lea; and K27, Deadhead. She also noted that there is no direct relationship between K7, Lummi and K11, Georgia, whom were thought to be mother and daughter. Dr. Van Giniken plans to continue the DNA testing on the SRKWs. She also noted that there does not appear to be any mating between first order relatives or full siblings.
She also discussed the viability of the SRKWs, and noted that three matriarchal lines in L pod will disappear as only males remain, while all current matriarchal lines in J and K pods have the ability to continue. Only one-third of the males reach age 25 or older and the average age at death is 35 years for males. Two-thirds of females reach age 40 or older. A group of 55 or 60 individuals is considered to be severly at risk of dying out. So while she has hope that the 87 whales of the Southern Residents will survive, their survival is dependent upon a sustainable supply of Chinook salmon and removing the toxins in the Salish Sea.
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