Orca who carried dead newborn has lost another calf and is carrying it again
An orca that carried her dead calf for 17 days in 2018 seems to be repeating the behavior with a newly deceased baby whale. Researchers say it's a show of grief.
Nearly six years ago, an orca mother drew international attention when she carried her dead calf for 17 consecutive days. Now, sadly, the whale seems to be repeating what researchers say is a show of grief with another newborn that has died.
The mother whale, known as J35 and also as Tahlequah, was first spotted with a new calf on Dec. 20. But on Wednesday, researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration photographed her off West Seattle with the baby whale’s carcass on her head.
“We were able to confirm J31 had lost the calf and she was pushing it around on her head,” Brad Hanson, a research scientist with the NOAA Fisheries Northwest Fisheries Science Center, said at a news conference Thursday.
He added that when the calf appears to sink, “it looks like she’ll do a high arch dive to go down and recover the calf, and whether or not she’s pushing it at that point or grabbing it, we’re not real sure.”
Scientists said they think Tahlequah is most likely carrying the deceased calf as an expression of grief. Joe Gaydos, the science director of the SeaDoc Society, a marine research organization, said at the news conference that whales have hardwiring similar to that of humans and other large, social mammals that live for a long time.
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