A pod of endangered orcas off the coast of Washington State has successfully spawned a new baby. The first baby killer whale in the pod in two years is now more than one week old.

On New Year's Eve, the Center for Whale Research, a non-profit organization studying killer whales, released an announcement the pod had given birth to a baby.

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The new killer whale baby is named J-50. It's the 78th member of the whale population found across the Washington coast area and Canada. Orcas are considered endangered creatures in both countries.

This birth is considered a remarkably positive response after a pregnant orca died last month.

Kenneth Balcomb, a scientist from the center, said his team was monitoring J pod-J16 loitering around Puget Sound, an inlet in the Pacific and part of Salish sea, when they took notice of the newborn orca.

More than half of the whale population of this group was previously used for captive display 40 years ago. The pod's numbers increased in the 1990s but the population fell by 20 percent during the 2000s, placing this pod under the endangered species protection list in 2005.

It's still unclear to scientists what exactly caused this decrease in populations but the declining supply of food, specifically the Chinook salmon that is the orcas' main source of food, could be a probable reason, according to biologist Brad Hanson from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

TagsScientists Discover New Born Baby Killer Whale in Endangered Pod in Washington, US, Washington State, NOAA, orcas, killer whales, new baby killer whale orca endangered pod, endangered killer whales