This orca is carrying around another dead calf. Here’s what we know about how orcas grieve
Tahlequah previously carried another dead newborn for 17 days in 2018. Here’s what she’s taught us about how orcas deal with death.
Tragedy has again struck Tahlequah, the orca mom who captured the world’s attention in 2018 when she carried her dead calf on her head for 17 days. Her newest calf, a female, was first seen shortly before Christmas, but perished before the new year.
Though other marine mammals have been seen carrying their dead in this way, Tahlequah’s 2018 journey across 1,000 miles was unusually long—and risky too. Tahlequah, or J35, could not hunt for food while she carried her dead calf this way.
Researchers are once again worried she won’t get enough food, though this time her son and sister are staying close by, according to Michael Weiss, research director for the Center for Whale Research. Weiss says during the 2018 journey, Tahlequah’s own mother stayed close by, but has since passed. This time, Tahlequa’s sister Kiki is there and has been known to share food with family.
(Orca mother drops calf, after unprecedented 17 days of mourning.)
Right now, Tahlequah, Kiki, and Tahlequah’s son Phoenix are “a little bit separate from rest of the pod. They are moving slower,” Weiss says. Though the group fell behind a bit, they can still hear the rest of the pod, he adds.
Moving slower may be due to the weight and drag of pushing her dead calf through the water, and it might also be a sign of grief. Weiss says we can never truly know what she is feeling.
“We know that the bond between killer whale mothers and their offspring is incredibly strong, about as strong as a social bond can be,” Weiss says.“We know that J35 is not ready to let go. I think that is as far as we can, or need, to interpret her emotional state at this point.”
Researchers of one study that examined various whale species’ attention and care for the dead suggested a possible reason for carrying a dead calf is that an adult maybe trying to revive the newborn. It is also possible that due to strong attachments between a mother and calf, she may be grieving.
Tahlequah’s community, the southern residents, rely on fish. Salmon, in particular the preferred and endangered Chinook salmon, are scarcer than they once were. This is causing decreased birth rates and declining populations.
“It’s not that they’re not getting pregnant and not even that they’re not carrying well into term,” Weiss explains. “It’s late-stage pregnancy failure, or still births and very young deaths. Dying young happens in the wild, but the rate that it happens in southern residents is really concerning.”
The second death of a child for Tahlequah is heartbreaking for the Lummi people, says Kurt Russo, co-executive director of Se’Si’Le, a Lummi tribal organization. The Lummi have had relationships with the southern residents for thousands of years, and consider the whale community kin. “Southern residents are a clan named Sk’aliCh’elh, that’s their name…they are not just animals, they are relatives. People are watching their relatives’ children die needlessly.”
This orca is carrying around another dead calf. Here’s what we know about how orcas grieve
Tahlequah previously carried another dead newborn for 17 days in 2018. Here’s what she’s taught us about how orcas deal with death.
Tragedy has again struck Tahlequah, the orca mom who captured the world’s attention in 2018 when she carried her dead calf on her head for 17 days. Her newest calf, a female, was first seen shortly before Christmas, but perished before the new year.
Though other marine mammals have been seen carrying their dead in this way, Tahlequah’s 2018 journey across 1,000 miles was unusually long—and risky too. Tahlequah, or J35, could not hunt for food while she carried her dead calf this way.
Researchers are once again worried she won’t get enough food, though this time her son and sister are staying close by, according to Michael Weiss, research director for the Center for Whale Research. Weiss says during the 2018 journey, Tahlequah’s own mother stayed close by, but has since passed. This time, Tahlequa’s sister Kiki is there and has been known to share food with family.
(Orca mother drops calf, after unprecedented 17 days of mourning.)
Right now, Tahlequah, Kiki, and Tahlequah’s son Phoenix are “a little bit separate from rest of the pod. They are moving slower,” Weiss says. Though the group fell behind a bit, they can still hear the rest of the pod, he adds.
Moving slower may be due to the weight and drag of pushing her dead calf through the water, and it might also be a sign of grief. Weiss says we can never truly know what she is feeling.
“We know that the bond between killer whale mothers and their offspring is incredibly strong, about as strong as a social bond can be,” Weiss says.“We know that J35 is not ready to let go. I think that is as far as we can, or need, to interpret her emotional state at this point.”
Researchers of one study that examined various whale species’ attention and care for the dead suggested a possible reason for carrying a dead calf is that an adult maybe trying to revive the newborn. It is also possible that due to strong attachments between a mother and calf, she may be grieving.
Tahlequah’s community, the southern residents, rely on fish. Salmon, in particular the preferred and endangered Chinook salmon, are scarcer than they once were. This is causing decreased birth rates and declining populations.
“It’s not that they’re not getting pregnant and not even that they’re not carrying well into term,” Weiss explains. “It’s late-stage pregnancy failure, or still births and very young deaths. Dying young happens in the wild, but the rate that it happens in southern residents is really concerning.”
The second death of a child for Tahlequah is heartbreaking for the Lummi people, says Kurt Russo, co-executive director of Se’Si’Le, a Lummi tribal organization. The Lummi have had relationships with the southern residents for thousands of years, and consider the whale community kin. “Southern residents are a clan named Sk’aliCh’elh, that’s their name…they are not just animals, they are relatives. People are watching their relatives’ children die needlessly.”
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