Bare Facts: Female ~ Born est.1967 ~ Mother A10 ~ Father Unknown ~ Children A41, Sutlej, A49, Scylla, Surf, Schooner, Magin, Toba ~ ID Thick fin; notch near top of fin; clear thick finger mark from saddle

Kelsey was most likely born around 1967, probably to A10, the matriarch of the A4s. When she was born, her pod and family consisted of her mother A10, her uncle A4, and her sister Yakat (A11).
Kelsey lost her first family member when she was six-her mother had a calf that didn't survive the year. When she was 14, Kelsey had her first calf, A41, but sadly it didn't survive the year. Then, when Kelsey was 16, lots of things happened. First, A10 and her newest calf were shot, and died. Second, Kelsey had another calf, Sutlej (A45).
So Kelsey and her sister Yakat were left in charge of their shrinking family. The next year, the girls' uncle died, leaving them completely alone in taking care of their pod. At the moment, Yakat had two children, and Kelsey had Sutlej.
The next year, Kelsey had another calf, A49. This little one also didn't survive longer than a year. The same year, Yakat and Kelsey began to separate and become different families.
In 1988, Kelsey tried again, having a female calf, A53. This little one, named Scylla, survived for four years before disappearing. The same year she died, Kelsey had another calf, Surf (A58), who died the same year as well.
Kelsey's calves have an unfortunate track record. While first-born calves often don't make it, the later calves should have had a better chance. If Kelsey was contaminated with toxins, which she probably was, the milk she produced for the first few calves should have flushed the toxins out, making it safe for later calves. Therefore, we know that the real reason the calves don't survive is probably that Kelsey isn't the greatest mother. More than the other whales, Kelsey lets her calves wander away from her. She doesn't really keep a close eye on them. That's probably one of the reasons her calves have such a high mortality rate.
In 1995, Kelsey had her sixth calf, Schooner (A64), a female. This beautiful girl made it past her perilous first year and joined the family full time.
When Schooner was two years old, Sutlej (remember her? Kelsey's first born) had her own first calf. Sadly, Kelsey passed on more than her saddle patch to her daughter; Sutlej's calf (A68) died the same year.

When Sutlej was 16 and Schooner was four, Kelsey had another calf, Magin (A71). Magin also joined the ranks of 'Kelsey's calfs who survived'.
Just as Magin was completing her hazardous first year of life, Sutlej had her second, and last, calf. This little girl, Springer (A73), was healthy and happy. But tragedy struck again when Springer was one year old-Sutlej died and Springer disappeared.
Extraordinarily, Springer began an amazing journey. Somehow ending up down south in Puget Sound, alone and ill, Springer became the focus of research and rescue alike. A long story short, she ended up back in Johnstone Strait. However, rather than joining Kelsey's family again, Springer has bounced from family to family, going from the A12s to the A5s to Yakat's family. Still, she's alive and healthy and happy!
Meanwhile, back in Kelsey's family, in 2003, Kelsey had another calf, Toba (A78).
Now, in 2005, Kelsey is healthy and doing well, and so are Schooner and Magin and Toba. Schooner is now 10, Magin is 6, and Toba is 2, so maybe there's hope for this fractured family yet!