The Associated Press
SEATTLE — An orca found dead off Vancouver Island in Canada earlier this month died after a failed pregnancy caused a bacterial infection, officials said Tuesday.
Preliminary necropsy results show that the 19-year-old killer whale known as J-32 was pregnant with a nearly full-term female calf that died, Fisheries and Oceans Canada said.
She was a member of the Southern Resident killer whale population that spends time in the inland waters of Washington state and Canada.
They are an endangered species in Canadian and the U.S.
Tissue samples from the necropsy will be sent to eight laboratories across the two countries to help assess threats to the orca population.
A final report is expected in the spring.
Experts had speculated the death may have arisen from birth complications.
The death leaves 77 animals in the Puget Sound orca population.
There hasn’t been a successful birth in the population for 2½ years, said Ken Balcomb, a scientist with the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor who assisted in the necropsy.
