An orca who made headlines for mourning her dead calf in a unique two-week “tour of grief” is responding to her latest deceased newborn in the same way, a heart-wrenching photo shows.
Tahlequah, the killer whale also known as J35, was seen carrying the newborn on her back Wednesday through Washington state’s Puget Sound, just as she did seven years ago, according to the Center for Whale Research.
Scientists saw the grieving mother with the dead calf draped on top of her head and said that she appeared to dive for it when it sank from the surface, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
The baby, J61, an endangered Southern Resident killer whale, only lived about a week and has been dead for several days, according to officials.
It marks the second loss out of four births for Tahlequah, who is approximately 25 years old.
Other Southern Resident orcas have been seen carrying dead calves but not for as long as Tahlequah did. In 2018, she carried her calf’s body with her for 17 days.
“It’s interesting that it’s the same whale doing this behavior again,” Dr. Michael Weiss, research director at the Center for Whale Research, told CBS News.
“It does seem to suggest that there’s something about her as an individual that makes this behavior more prominent,” he added. “We don’t know what that would be.”
Scientists at the center continue to conduct follow-up observations of Tahlequah, who is now unable to forage for food as she focuses her energy on carrying the approximately 300-pound carcass.
Other whales in her pod, including her sister, have been staying by her side following the death, scientists said at a press conference on Thursday. The pack lives in the waters off Washington and British Columbia, Canada.
“Early life is always dangerous for new calves, with a very high mortality rate in the first year,” the center posted before J61’s death. “J35 is an experienced mother, and we hope that she is able to keep J61 alive through these difficult early days.”
Scientists are unsure what caused the female calf’s death but believe it was born prematurely. About 50% of orca babies die within a year.
“The death of any calf in the [Southern Resident killer whales] population is a tremendous loss, but the death of J61 is particularly devastating, not just because she was a female, who could have one day potentially led her own matriline but also given the history of her mother J35 who has now lost two out of four documented calves — both of which were female,” the center wrote in a Facebook post.
There are just 73 endangered Southern Resident killer whales, according to the center.
The new year brought “extreme highs and lows,” the Washington-based group, which focuses on the study and conservation of the Southern Resident orcas, said in its post.
Along with the confirmation of J61’s death, it announced the news of another birth in the pod.
The baby’s sex and mother are not yet known but researchers said it appears “physically and behaviorally normal.”
With Post wires