Researchers Spot Killer Whale Carrying Dead Calf Around for 17 Days- the Reason Left Them Shattered
The declining populations of southern resident killer whales (SRKW)– a critically endangered population of orcas–have become a cause for concern among whale researchers. As nature would have it, an adult killer whale of the Pacific Northwest population lost her newborn female calves, which scientists identified as a heartbreaking loss for more than one reason, as reported by EcoWatch.
The whale in question, Tahlequah, a 25-year-old SRKW of the northwestern group left researchers dumbfounded in 2018 when she swam with her deceased calf for 17 whole days around the Salish Sea to seemingly mourn the loss. The mother whale’s exhibit of profound grief for her dead baby off the coast of Victoria, British Columbia, became symbolic of the killer whale community’s behavioral patterns. According to the report, Tahlequah also marked as J35, carried her calf through a 1000-mile journey across the ocean at the time. SRKW typically travels as far as 75 miles in a single day.
Unfortunately, J35 recently lost another of her female calves, J61, who was born around Christmas in 2024. Once again, she mourns the loss of her newborn calf in Puget Sound, off the shores of Washington State. Scientists at the Center for Whale Research find the second demise particularly heartwrenching owing to the mother’s tragic history and the critically low population of breeding females left, about 23 of them, as per The Guardian. A mere population of 73 south resident killer whales now remains on the surface of the earth.
Expressing their sadness, the center wrote in a Facebook statement, “The death of any calf in the SRKW 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.” Tahlequah was once again spotted carrying her recently deceased calf around the ocean- clearly, she wasn't done mourning.
The Center for Whale Research was hopeful of the survival of Tahlequah’s second female baby in seven years considering J35 was an experienced mother. She had given birth to four documented calves– two surviving males, one born in 2020 while another is 14 years old, and two deceased females. They confirmed that early life is “dangerous” for new calves with high mortality rates in the first year itself. The New York Times stated that 50% of orca calves die in the first year in addition to multiple pregnancy failures.
Brad Henson, a research scientist with Seattle’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center, a part of the North Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said, “It’s so much harder to see now that she has lost another one.” He was unable to discern the cause of the female calf’s death but some researchers suspected that the calf was facing health problems.
Nevertheless, Tahlequah is supported by her loyal group of orcas and her sister at her side as she carries her deceased calf across the ocean to grieve, while unable to forage for food. South resident killer whales depend on Chinook salmon as their primary source of food, whose populations are also facing a steep decline, per BBC Wildlife. Consequently, the endangered whale populations are indirectly affected as food scarcity impacts their nutritional needs and reproduction, according to experts at the University of Washington. Other threats to their existence include plastic pollution, fishing gear interfering with their food chain, and disturbance caused by vessels.