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B.C. Killer Whales Welcome 6th Calf This Year

Hooray!

Another baby orca has been born to the endangered southern resident population off the West Coast.

Named J53, the calf was spotted Saturday in the Haro Strait near Saanich, B.C. It was accompanied by a 38-year-old orca known as Princess Angeline.

Washington's Centre for Whale Research posted a photo of the pair to its Facebook page Saturday.

If Princess Angeline is the mother, this would be her fourth calf, reported CBC News. She is also a grandmother to two other calves.

The southern residents roam the waters off B.C. and Washington state, and are made up of three pods: J, K and L.

The J-pod's newest addition is the sixth this year between the groups.

Michael Harris, the executive director of the Pacific Whale Watch Association, says the baby boom has been referred to as the "class of 2015.''

And it might just be the tip of the iceberg — biologists recently used drones to take thousands of images of the orcas, and they said several appeared to be pregnant.

With files from the Associated Press/CP

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