Nellie Juan (AB17)

Nellie Juan is an adult female and was first photographed in 1979. She has three surviving offspring, Zaikof (AB35) an adult male, Eshamy (AB 43) a juvenile born during the winter of '87-'88 and Irish (AB54), a calf that was born in 1998. These whales are nearly always seen traveling together near the other members of their pod (AB pod) which currently includes 25 whales. We suspect that Nellie Juan is at about 43 years old and perhaps at the end of her calf bearing years, although she may live to age 60 or older. She is about 22 feet long and probably weighs over 3 tons. AB pod was one of the first pods photographed in the Sound with pictures dating back to 1979. In 1985 and 1986 AB pod began taking fish off the hooks of blackcod fishermen. Some whales were bullet wounded by shots from angry fishermen. Nellie Juan received wounds in 1985 but has apparently recovered. In recent years the shooting has stopped and we have not seen new wounds. After the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 many members of this pod of then 36 whales disappeared. Two of Nellie Juan's offspring (AB13 and AB20) died after the spill.

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