Pic to go: New baby Bigg's

The coastal Bigg's killer whale population has welcomed seven new calves so far this year, plus one born last year but not seen until now, Pacific Whale Watch Association executive director Erin Gless told Axios.

• One of them, seen above, is T030B3, the third calf of T030B "Lyra," who was born in 1993.
• Bigg's killer whale sightings have been increasing yearly with 1,413 sightings in 2023, an eight-fold increase from 2013, per the Orca Behavior Institute.
• This continued population growth is due to an abundance of prey: seals, sea lions and porpoises, per Gless.

Reality check: The other black and white whales in our waters, the southern resident orcas, remain in dire threat of extinction, the Seattle Times reported.