A mother orca who pushed the corpse of her newborn for 17 days in 2018 on the west coast of the United States recently lost another calf, and researchers say she is once again carrying the body to ‘She.
The Center for Whale Research in the United States said in a New Year’s post on social media that the mother orca, known as “Tahlequah” or “J35,” has now lost two of her four listed calves. .
The center announced on December 21 that the newborn was traveling with “Group J” to the Puget Sound region, on the northwest coast of Washington state.
But the whale rights group expressed concern about the calf’s health and declared Wednesday that the calf had died, although a second newborn was also seen in group J.
The Center for Whale Research says the death of a calf in the endangered “Southern Resident Killer Whale” population is still “a huge loss.” But the most recent death is “particularly devastating” because it was a small female – and because of the history of “J35”.
The organization says researchers are “deeply saddened” by the death of the calf.
“The Center has received additional information that since January 1, J35 has been seen carrying with her the body of her deceased calf.”
“This behavior had already been observed by J35 in 2018 when she carried the body of her dead calf for 17 days.”
The research center says the gender and mother of the other newborn in the group have not yet been determined, but the calf appeared “physically and behaviorally normal.”
Orcas on the West Coast are classified into three families known as Groups J, K and L, with each family having its own dialect and calls that differ from the others.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Parks Canada, in consultation with Transport Canada and Environment and Climate Change, conducted an assessment of the southern resident killer whale population last year, finding that the population had fallen to 73, with only 23 females reproductive.
The U.S. Whale Research Center also said the population fell to 73 in its July 1, 2024 census, after two adult male orcas died.
