Plan B Forum

The oldest-known living orca whale is still alive and swimming, and was spotted just off the coast of Washington last week.

The 105-year-old whale nicknamed "Granny" was seen on July 27 swimming with a few other whales, and seemed to be in "high spirits," according to a whale-sighting report shared by Orca Network.

While it seems impossible that a whale can live up to 105, Granny — also known by her scientific name J2 — has been studied by scientists since the early 1970s. Her age was first deduced by scientists who first spotted her in 1971, and it was generally accepted that year that Granny was 40, Michael Harris, executive director of Pacific Whale Watch Association, told SeattlePI in 2014. It has since been stated that there is a 12-year margin of error around her age, possibly making her as young as 90, according to Orca Network.


Granny has continued to be sighted throughout the years, despite an average life expectancy of between 60 and 80 years for wild orcas. Granny, and other older whales in the wild, far outlive whales in captivity who have only been known to live up to (at most) their early 40s, Harris pointed out.[another reason to scuttle those stupid and cruel so-called "wild animal parks"]

Granny is known by the markings near her dorsal fin. As the Tribune pointed out, Granny was named the honorary mayor of the city of Eastound, located in Washington, in June. Her "mayoral address" can be found here.

The oldest-known living orca whale is still alive

Big RR wrote:But it is still trying to live down its role in the horrible Richard Harris movie.

dales wrote:

The oldest-known living orca whale is still alive and swimming, and was spotted just off the coast of Washington last week.

The 105-year-old whale nicknamed "Granny" was seen on July 27 swimming with a few other whales, and seemed to be in "high spirits," according to a whale-sighting report shared by Orca Network.
....
Granny has continued to be sighted throughout the years, despite an average life expectancy of between 60 and 80 years for wild orcas. Granny, and other older whales in the wild, far outlive whales in captivity who have only been known to live up to (at most) their early 40s, Harris pointed out.[another reason to scuttle those stupid and cruel so-called "wild animal parks"]

dales wrote:Bicycle Billy:

So you approve of a large sea creature being confined to a small tank for public exhibition?

Today, the North Atlantic and North Pacific right whales are among the most endangered whales in the world,[15] and both species are protected in the United States by the Endangered Species Act. The western populations of both are currently endangered, with their total populations numbering in the hundreds. The eastern North Pacific population, on the other hand, with fewer than 50 individuals remaining, is critically endangered[16] – further still, the eastern North Atlantic population, which numbers in the low teens at best, may already be functionally extinct.[15] Although no longer facing a threat from whaling, mankind remains by far the greatest threat to these species: the two leading causes of death are from being struck by ships and from entanglement in fishing gear. Regarding the North Atlantic right whale, for example, these two anthropogenic factors alone account for 48% of all known right whale deaths since 1970.[17]

Guinevere wrote:

Animal rights groups are merely western Taliban.

Pilot whales and Minke whales are of no different moral status than any other food animal. You are just not thinking.

Since no one has ever shown any rational reason to regard whales as having a different moral status from any other food animal the belief that they do is thus religious in nature and no one has the right to enforce their religious beliefs on anyone else. Whale killing is regulated and just as humane as beef slaughter.