Six years ago, an orca mother made headlines after scientists reported she had carried her deceased calf for 17 days. And now, tragically, researchers say this has happened again, and she is carrying another dead calf in a demonstration of her profound grief.
Scientists had been reporting on the calf’s (J61) condition for weeks, stating she had appeared to have been struggling and surfacing abnormally.
The whale, referred to as J35 and named Tahlequah, had been spotted with her new baby on December 20. On Wednesday, however the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration photographed her near West Seattle carrying the dead baby’s body on her head.
Bret Hanson, a research scientist with NOAA stated:
We were able to confirm J35 had lost the calf and she was pushing it around on her head. When it looked as if the calf appears to sink, 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.
Whales are known to grieve very much like humans having the same neurotransmitters as humans, meaning we have the same hormones as orcas, so why shouldn’t they have similar emotions?
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. The entire team at the Center for Whale Research is deeply saddened by this news and we will continue to provide updates when we can.
Most scientists agree the mother orca is grieving the death of her baby. Dolphins and non human primates react in similar ways.
The orca population stands at 73. One other orca recently gave birth to a calf who is reported doing well.
Photos via Center for Whale Research Facebook page.
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Fish don’t grieve. Stop being ridiculous. Well except my goldfish. They had a funeral for one of their own. It was quite touching.
Whales are mammals and not fish. Porpoises and dolphins are cetaceans and not fish either.