Bare Facts: Female ~ Born 1991 ~ Died 1996 ~ Mother Sonora ~ Father Unknown ~ Children None ~ ID Possible open saddle; straight fin; blunted face

Kelkpa was an unusual little whale in many ways. She was born in 1991 to Sonora (A42), when Sonora was only 11 years old, the youngest age a wild whale has been documented giving birth!
An interesting thing about Kelkpa is her name. Like Blinkhorn (A54), in the A30s, Kelkpa has two names, which often confuses people. While her adoptive name is Kelkpa (and therefore the one I use), she has also often been called Holly. I have no idea where either of the names came from, however.
The little calf was unusual to see; her face was blunt, as you can sort of see in this photo.
However, this oddness didn't seem to affect her. She was a playful little whale. She swam with her grandmother Licka (A8), her mom and her aunt Havannah.
Her story, unfortunately, is cut short. When she was five, Kelkpa showed up, alone, in a bay near Powell River in British Columbia. Her family was nowhere to be seen. She was obviously very sick.
Researchers started to attempt a rescue mission, but sadly, before they could rehabilitate her, the calf died. The rescue mission became a biopsy, which showed that she had died of erysipelas, which is a type of bacterial infection.
After she had died, her family showed up at the mouth of the bay, calling loudly. They left later.
The same year she died, Kelkpa's mom had another calf, Surf (A66). He was born in February, so she just met her little brother before she was gone.
While Kelkpa's death was very sad, and a great loss for the failing A5 pod, she offered a great contribution to science. She was the first whale that we positively knew the cause of death of!