People on the West Coast of Vancouver Island have always had a fascination with whales. The communities of Ucluelet and Tofino host the annual Pacific Rim Whale Festival every March, when grey whales—up to 20,000 of them in a good year—make their way north from their winter breeding grounds in Mexico and summer feeding grounds in Canada's Arctic.
Orcas—those distinctive black and white mammals also known as killer whales—are also present off the coast. The front page of the June 5, 2019 Westerly News drew a lot of attention after it featured a whale of a photo by John Forde: a newborn southern resident killer whale calf near Tofino.
The baby mammal's arrival was thrilling news for the future of the endangered species. At the time only 75 southern resident orcas were known to be left in the wild. Vancouver Islanders were rooting for the newborn, especially since the species has a high mortality rate: approximately 50 percent in their first year.
