An endangered Pacific Northwest orca that captured global attention in 2018 by carrying her deceased calf for over two weeks is doing so again after the death of her latest newborn, demonstrating her grief over the loss, researchers have said.
The mother orca, called Tahlequah or J35, has been observed carrying the lifeless body of her female calf since Wednesday, according to the Washington state-based Centre for Whale Research in a Facebook statement.
“The whole team at the Centre for Whale Research is heartbroken by this news and will provide updates as we are able,” the statement read.
In 2018, researchers watched as J35 transported her dead calf for 17 days, carrying it over 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres). The calf had died shortly after birth, and J35’s tightly bonded pod was seen sharing the burden of carrying its body.
Two weeks ago, the research centre announced they knew J35’s new calf. But on Christmas Eve, they expressed concerns about the calf’s health based on its behaviour and that of its mother.
By New Year’s Day, officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed that J35 was carrying the calf’s body. Brad Hanson, a federal research scientist, observed her on Wednesday, noting that she draped the calf over her snout or head, diving to retrieve it when it sank. The calf had lived only a “few days,” Hanson reported.
“She is clearly grieving or mourning,” said Joe Gaydos, science director at the University of California’s SeaDoc programme. He noted that such behaviour is also seen in other long-lived, socially complex animals like dolphins and primates.
According to the Centre for Whale Research, Orca calf mortality is high, with only 1 in 5 pregnancies resulting in a calf surviving its first year. Michael Weiss, the centre’s research director, estimates just half of orca calves make it through their first year.
The centre called the death of J35’s calf particularly heartbreaking – not just because she might have helped bolster the fragile population but also because J35 has now lost two of her four documented calves.
The southern resident killer whales, comprising three pods that frequent waters between Washington state and British Columbia, are critically endangered. Their numbers have dwindled to 73 due to a lack of their preferred prey, Chinook salmon, as well as pollution and noise from vessels disrupting their hunting. Researchers warn they are on the brink of extinction.
Other southern resident orcas have been seen carrying dead calves, Weiss said, “but not for as long as J35 did in 2018.”
However, there is some good news for the J pod: officials and scientists have observed a new calf, J62, alive.
Southern resident orcas, distinct from other killer whales, feed on salmon rather than marine mammals. Unique markings or fin shapes identify individual orcas, each given a name and number.
These orcas travel in matrilineal groups and are sometimes spotted breaching near Puget Sound, framed by the Seattle skyline.
