What does the future hold?
Mystery Illness
For the past few weeks I’ve been sick with some sort of viral infection (according to the doctor at the hospital, at least). I, honestly, have no idea. It comes and it goes randomly. Sometimes I go an entire day without any symptoms. And sometimes I can go for days being practically bedridden due to being in pain from headaches and strange ear pains. I’ve missed a fair bit of school, but I went yesterday. I think that was a mistake. By the time I got home, I was so exhausted, yet I continued with my normal activities and fell asleep at my normal time (1am). Today I felt worse, so I did not go to school. In response to this my mom says I am not allowed to go to my best friend’s birthday party tomorrow. Well no matter what, it’s lose/lose for me. Lose 1) If I went to school I would have been in pain, and then in pain at my friend’s place. Lose 2) I stay home and miss out on long-awaited fun, but get to rest in attempt to ease the pain.
So no matter what, I lose.
Three New Calves
This past week or so the Center for Whale Research has identified three new calves in the Southern Resident orca community, identified as J-44, L-112, and J-45. This is pretty good news, as the community has lost six to eight orcas this past year, two of them being reproductive-age females who wouldn’t die in normal circumstances. Why did they die? Lack of food. Why is this a non-normal circumstance? Because we’re taking away their main diet—chinook salmon. We have taken away much of the habitat which the chinook use for reproduction. Another reason, is that the salmon are loaded with PCBs, a now-mostly-banned flame retardant which is still being dumped in some countries. It induces a weakened immune system, chance of infertility, among other unhealthy things. As a result, the Southern Resident orcas have the highest levels of PCBs in their bodies. Nearly two centuries ago these orcas numbered around two hundred. Today they number in the eighties, with an entire generation missing due to the mass capture of youngsters for captivity (profits) forty years ago.
J-45’s mother is Samish (J-14). The identity of L-112’s mother is still unknown.
The mother of J-44 is Princess Angeline (J-17). She already has two daughters (Polaris (J-28) and Tahlequah (J-35)), and was also my first adopted orca.
