Stranded killer whale was pregnant, necropsy shows

A necropsy on the killer whale that died after being stranded off northern Vancouver Island shows she was pregnant with another calf.

Marine scientist Jared Towers watched the necropsy on the animal and says the 15-year-old Bigg’s killer whale was expecting another calf when she became trapped in shallow waters near the community of Zeballos. 

Towers, who’s with the research group Bay Cetology, says scientists, area First Nations and volunteers are now focusing their efforts on coaxing the killer whale’s two-year-old calf out of the lagoon, but the timing of the tidal waters only offers a daily opportunity of about 30 minutes for the animal