A similar expression of grieving is being displayed once more by Tahlequah, the mother orca known as J35, who won hearts all over the world in 2018 by carrying her dead offspring for 17 days and more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers).
On December 20, members of the public first sighted her newest calf, a female known to researchers as J61, in the Puget Sound region on the northwest coast of Washington state. Dr. Michael Weiss, research director at the Center for Whale Research, later confirmed the encounter on December 23 with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Tragically, by New Year’s Eve, the calf was confirmed dead, he said.
According to research, Tahlequah remains in possession of the calf as of January 5, according to Dr. Brad Hanson, a wildlife researcher with NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center. As the mother’s family group, or pod, leaves its primary Puget Sound location, there might be fewer updates available about her activities with J61.
To keep the body of the dead calf, which weighs about 300 pounds (136 kilograms), near and stop the ocean from driving it away, Tahlequah is continuously pushing it with her muzzle.
Weiss, whose doctoral research dealt with orca social structure, stated via email, “As with last time, I think it’s enough to recognize how strong the mother-calf bond is in killer whales (among the strongest social relationships in any animal), and to see that she is clearly not ready to let go.”
Tahlequah suffers greatly anytime a calf dies, but so does the Southern Resident orca population, which is fast diminishing and on the verge of being extinct—as of 2019, there are just 73 of these marine creatures left.
Researchers have recognized the Southern Resident population as “one of the most critically endangered populations of marine mammals” in the United States.
Deep mourning by an orca mother
Candice Emmons/NOAA Fisheries
Since Tahlequah is a member of the extremely vulnerable Southern Resident group, researchers like Weiss and Hanson are concerned about both the mental and physical consequences of this act of grieving. The mother is weighed down and her movements are slowed by carrying the additional weight of the calf’s body, which can impact her capacity to forage for food.
Weiss pointed out that the orca’s condition did not appear to deteriorate during her last 17-day period of grieving, which would indicate that other pod members assisted her with acquiring her food supply.
The time and distance Tahlequah spent carrying her baby in 2018 is comparable to how some female killer whales lament the loss of their offspring.
It is known as Tahlequah is the mother of two the whales: J57, a baby born two years after her 2018 loss, and J47, another orca who is currently about 14 years old.
In the words of Hanson, killer whales usually mate every five years to allow the mother to recuperate from the physical strain of pregnancy and childbirth.
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Although there isn’t any compelling proof to support Tahlequah losing two calves in her lifetime, orca pregnancies are difficult. According to Weiss, Tahlequah and her young are part of the Southern Resident orca population, where spontaneous miscarriages or very early deaths occur in over 70% of pregnancies.
Challenges faced by Southern Resident orcas
Unsuccessful pregnancies and struggles for survival within exclusively fish-eating killer whale communities in the northeast Pacific Ocean can be attributed to challenges from pollutants, noise, inbreeding and a lack of Chinook salmon, which is their primary food source, Weiss said.
The loss of a female calf like J61 is particularly harmful to the species’ future because it diminishes the population’s ability for reproduction.
“Assuming (orcas) live a full lifespan, you’re looking at them producing five to six calves under ideal conditions, and part of the problem is that most of the females in this population have not produced that many viable calves,” Hanson said.
