After several weeks of public voting with more than 6,500 votes counted, four Southern Resident Community Orca calves have new names.

The newly named babies are: Notch (J-47), Saturna (K-43), Mystic (L-115) and Finn (L-116).

“Receiving a name is an important event. It acknowledges the whale has survived their first winter, making their chances for long term survival much greater,” said Whale Museum representatives. “These active, young whales have returned with their pod and have been seen throughout the summer. They have now been entered into the Orca Adoption Program.”

The Orca Adoption Program was started in the spring of 1984.  The rationale behind the creation of the adoption program was that if each orca were given a name and history, people would understand its unique personality and complex social relationships, and form a connection to the whales. At the time the Orca Adoption program was created, a Congressional bill to ban live captures of killer whales was pending; it subsequently passed.  Today, thousands of people know Granny (J-2), Oreo (J-22) and other Southern Resident orcas through the Orca Adoption Program.

Symbolically adopting a whale in the Southern Resident Community also supports the mission of The Whale Museum which, since 1979, has been promoting stewardship of whales and the Salish Sea eco-system through education and research. In addition to providing exhibits and the Orca Adoption Program, the museum provides programs including: the Soundwatch Boater Education, Marine Naturalist Training, San Juan Islands Marine Mammal Stranding Network, and the Whale Hotline. For more information, go to www.whalemuseum.org.