Tahlequah, the mother orca identified as J35, who captured hearts around the world in 2018 by carrying her dead calf for 17 days and more than 1,000 miles, is once again demonstrating a similar act of grief.
Their most recent calf, a female known to researchers as J61, was first spotted on December 20 in the Puget Sound region on the northwest coast of Washington state by members of the public.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) later confirmed the sighting on December 23, according to Michael Weiss, director of research at the Whale Research Center. Tragically, on New Year’s Eve, the cub’s death was confirmed.
Researchers reported that as of Jan. 5, Tahlequah is still carrying the calf, according to Brad Hanson, a wildlife biologist with NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center. Updates on the mother’s activity with J61 may become limited as her family group, or pod, moves away from its main base in Puget Sound.
Tahlequah is constantly pushing the deceased calf’s body, which weighs about 300 pounds, with its snout to keep it close and prevent the ocean from washing away the corpse.
“Like last time, I think it’s enough to recognize how strong the mother-calf bond is in orcas (among the strongest social relationships in any animal), and to see that she’s clearly not ready to let go,” said Weiss, whose doctorate focused on the social structure of orcas, via email.
The loss of a calf is not only devastating for Tahlequah, but also for the rapidly declining population of Southern Resident killer whales, which is on the brink of extinction, with only 73 marine mammals remaining as of 2019.
The Southern Resident population is considered “one of the most critically endangered marine mammal populations” in the United States, according to researchers.
Deep mourning of a mother orca
This act of mourning raises concerns among researchers, including Weiss and Hanson, for its physical and emotional impact on Tahlequah as a member of the highly vulnerable population of Southern Residents. Carrying the extra weight of the calf’s body is straining the mother and slowing her movements. , which can impact their ability to forage for food.
However, Weiss noted that during the orca’s previous display of mourning, which lasted 17 days, there was no visible decline in her condition, which may indicate that other members of her pod were helping her receive her food supply.
Although some female orcas have been known to mourn the loss of their calves in a similar way to Tahlequah, the distance and time she carried her newborn in 2018 made her an exception. His current behavior, mirroring his past actions, is also unusual, according to Weiss.
Tahlequah is known to be the mother of another orca, J47, who is now about 14 years old, as well as J57, a baby born two years after her loss in 2018. Orcas typically reproduce every five years, giving the mother time to recover from the physical demands of pregnancy and childbirth, Hanson said.
While there is no significant data to suggest why Tahlequah may have lost two calves during her lifetime, orca pregnancies are fraught with challenges. Nearly 70% of pregnancies in the Southern Resident orca population, to which Tahlequah and her offspring belong, result in miscarriages or very early deaths, Weiss said.
Challenges Facing Southern Resident Orcas
Failed pregnancies and struggles for survival within fish-eating orca communities in the northeastern Pacific Ocean can be attributed to challenges such as pollutants, noise, inbreeding and a lack of Chinook salmon, which is their main food source, he said. Weiss.
The loss of a female offspring like J61 is particularly damaging to the future of the species because it decreases the population’s ability to reproduce.
“Assuming (orcas) live a full lifespan, we’re talking about producing five to six calves under ideal conditions, and part of the problem is that most females in this population haven’t produced that many viable calves,” Hanson said.
This content was originally published in Orca mother carries dead calf for the second time and worries scientists on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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