J51 Nova is the first offspring of Eclipse (J41), born in February 2015. Eclipse was just ten years old when she birthed Nova, which is very unusual. The average age of first pregnancies is 13 or 14 and 40 years of age is the upper average for last pregnancies. Nova, who is a male, is a member of what’s known as the Class of 2015, the eight claves born that year. This baby boom was very welcome as JPod had dropped to 77 in numbers in 2014 and the pod had gone two years without a successful birth. While another hazard that Orcas face is a fatality rate of 50% of all pregnancies, 2015 had a 80% success rate with newborns.
The word Nova is defined as a star showing a sudden large increase in brightness.......and there is such a thing as a Supernova. Nova, given the circumstances of your birth, you must be a Supernova! May your light shine brightly and may you live a long and healthy life.