This is a Southern Resident orca known as K26 or Lobo to some observers of this particular group of orca. This is a shot I got of him off the BC coast in 2014 when he was around 20 years old and is probably the only confirmed encounter I had with him. Sadly in the second half of last year he failed to show up during several observations of his family pod and by October he was thought to have died. Thirty one years is a pretty good life for a member of this family group, but worryingly this loss now reduces the total population of the Southern Residents to just 72 animals – having also lost a new young calf, L128, last fall too. (See also Melon Head).
