Experts say one of our Southern Resident Orcas will soon turn 100 years old! “Ocean Sun”, also known as L25, is considered the oldest orca in the world.
However, she hasn’t had an easy life. Howard Garrett with the Orca Network details a life full of tragedy and hardship.
In fact, Garrett says Ocean Sun should’ve died years ago, but she persevered.
Ocean Sun was tentatively born in 1928, making her 97 years old. Researchers say this is an estimated age as records before 1950 aren’t great, but they are confident in their estimation.
She has distinctive white markings, including a “hook shape” white mark near her dorsal fin.
“When she comes up next you know it, she’s a big whale,” Garrett said.
She is part of the Southern Resident L Pod. She has survived polluted water, famine, and even capture.
In August 1970, Ocean Sun’s pod was herded into Penn Cove off Whidbey Island.
“That’s where the captures took place,” Garrett said. “Where the net pens were set up, where they pushed mothers away to net babies, and haul them away.”
Around 100 orcas were ripped from the Puget Sound during those captures.
“It’s believed that Tokitae, later renamed Lolita by her captors, was her daughter. She was hauled away,” Garrett said.
Lolita was sold to the Miami Seaquarium, never seeing Ocean Sun again. She spent the rest of her life in that tank, dying in 2023.
Garrett tells us Ocean Sun’s entire known bloodline was killed or sold to the highest bidder over time.
“It was a horrendous day, kind of the scene of a massacre from their point of view,” Garrett said.
The echoes of distress still linger off Penn Cove’s docks today. Whidbey Island resident Susan Lin said she often comes to the pier near the cove, saying she can’t help but think about what happened.
“It’s shocking to think there are individuals who view this as theirs for the taking,” Lin said. “To do that type of mass roundup is horrifying.”
That isn’t the only threat she’s faced in her lifetime.
“Even more than the captures, has been the lack of Chinook Salmon,” Garrett said.
Researchers say there’s been a major food shortage for more than 30 years, but Ocean Sun always adapts.
“She’s a survivor, I don’t know how she does it,” mused Garrett.
In November, the L pod returned to the 1970 capture sites for the first time. Garrett said this shows orcas forgive, but don’t forget.
“She shared those stories, she described somehow what happened because they behaved very strangely right over the capture sites,” Garrett said.
Garrett says the orcas paced and did tricks for hours, which could be seen as a cleansing of some sort.
Ocean Sun may not be related to the L Pod by blood, but she is a leader. Garrett said those orcas treat her like the mother she should’ve had a chance to be.
He tells us Ocean Sun appears to be in great health, against all odds. The Orca Network is looking forward to celebrating her 100 years spent in the Puget Sound in 2028.
The pictures shown in this story were taken and kindly provided by The Langley Whale Center, Jill Hein, Sarah Geist, and Yanwei Cai.