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Grieving Mother Orca Carries Dead Baby Around the San Juan Islands for More than Nine Days

By Peter A. Janssen

A grieving mother orca has been carrying her dead calf through the waters north of Puget Sound and around the San Juan Islands for more than nine days, with her orca family staying close to her, taking turns staying at her side.

The calf was the first to be born to the endangered pod of orcas, killer whales, in three years. The death was a setback to the orca population; it numbered 98 in 1995, but it’s down to 75 today.

The baby died 30 minutes after it was born in north Puget Sound. The mother, named Tahlequah by whale researchers, hasn’t let go of her calf ever since. She has carried the calf hundreds of miles, all the way around the San Juan Islands at least once and to the Fraser River in British Columbia at least twice.

For most of the time, Tahlequah has been carrying the dead calf on her head in apparent mourning, balancing it as she swam. Earlier this week the baby slipped and fell in rough water; Tahlequah dove down and lifted the dead calf back to the surface.

Tahlequah’s orca family has been swimming near her all this time. Orcas live in pods of 40, and they help each other hunt and care for their young. When the baby died, a group of female orcas gathered around her in a tight circle and remained in that formation for at least two hours.

Researchers say that Tahlequah carried the calf in her womb for 17 or 18 months and won’t let go. Ken Balcomb, founder of the Center for Whale Research, says he’s been studying whales for 40 years but has never seen anything like this. At the start of this week whale researchers took an audio recording off the west coast of San Juan Island that produced a “mournful and prominent” sound from the grieving mother.

Tahlequah is now trailing behind the main pod but is still surrounded by other orcas related to her. But now the calf’s body is starting to decompose and lose its rigidity. Read more:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/researchers-searched-all-day-for-grieving-orca-mother-they-found-her-still-clinging-to-calf/

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/grieving-mother-orca-falling-behind-family-as-she-carries-dead-calf-for-a-seventh-day/

https://www.upworthy.com/female-orcas-surrounded-this-grieving-mom-in-a-heartbreaking-circle-of-solidarity

 

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