Skagit (A35)

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Origin of Name=possibly Skagit River

Photos of Skagit

Above: Skagit's ID photo, from Killer Whales by John Ford, Graeme Ellis and Kenneth Balcomb.

Bare Facts: Female ~ Born 1974 ~ Mother Yakat ~ Father Unknown ~ Children Kiltik, Racey, Sunny, Roller ~ ID Large nick near tip; scars on left saddle; rounded fin tip

Skagit (A35) was born in 1974 to Yakat (A11), when Yakat was around 26. She was born a year after the study in BC began, so we've seen her grow from a rambunctious calf to a caring mother, and now grandmother.
Skagit was Yakat's first child, that we know of. But most likely, considering her age, Yakat had a calf before that didn't survive. We'll never know.
When Skagit was four, she gained a playmate in her younger brother Skeena (A13). Everything seemed great. Then, six years later, she'd lost her aunt/uncle, her grandmother, and her great-uncle.
By then, she'd also gained two more playmates. One was her new sister, Siwiti (A48), and the other was her new cousin, Sutlej (A45).
But Skagit wasn't a calf anymore. She was almost mature. When she was 13, she had her first calf, a female named Kiltik (A52). Around the same time, Skagit's family began to separate from Kelsey's.
In 1990, Skagit got another sister, Nahwitti (A56), and two years later, she had her second calf, Racey (A59), also female.
For four years, the family consisted of Skagit, her mom Yakat, her brother Skeena, her sisters Nahwitti and Siwiti, and her daughters Kiltik and Racey.
When Kiltik was 9 and Racey was four, Siwiti and her new-born calf both died. Three years later, Skagit gave birth to her third daughter, Sunny (A70).
Around the time of Sunny's birth, Skagit and her three daughters began to travel apart from the rest of the family. Her family was growing so much, they were becoming a sub-matriline. Now, they still spend much of their time with the rest of the family, but they also travel away from them for significant amounts of time.
In 2002, Skagit became a grandmother! Kiltik had her first calf, A76. Sadly, the little one didn't survive the year.
In 2003, Skagit had her latest calf, Roller (A77). Skagit is clearly an excellent mother-she's had four calves, all of them healthy, all of them surviving past the treacherous one-year-mark.
The year after Roller was born, Kiltik and Racey both had their own calves-Kiltik's second, A81, and Racey's first, A82. Both seem to have made it past the one year mark.
Skagit is fairly simple to identify. The tip of her fin is rounded, there's a nick a bit down, and there are two easily noticeable scars on her saddle patch. She has shown up in 2005 and is doing well, as is the recently named Roller.