Mother Orca Still Carrying Dead Calf After 11 Days — Over 6 Years After Her First 'Tour of Grief' with Different Baby

Mar. 15, 2025

Orca whale mom Tahlequah (J35) has been carrying her dead calf for at least 11 days.Photo:NOAA Fisheries West Coast

NOAA Fisheries West Coast

Tahlequah (who is also known as her alpha-numeric designation, J35) previously made headlines in 2018 when shecarried her dead calf for 17 days. Now, she has lost another child, whom shehas been carrying with herthrough the ocean for at least 11 days, according toThe Seattle Timesand another Washington outlet,KOMO.

The grieving killer whale mom and her family — Tahlequah has two living sons — were spotted traveling together in Haro Strait off of Washington’s San Juan Island on the morning of Friday, Jan. 10, and proceeded to journey west toward the ocean,The Seattle Timesreported.

She has been carrying the calf, a female dubbed J61, through the water sinceit was confirmed dead on New Year’s Eveafter only a week, the Center for Whale Research announced on Jan. 1. This new tour of grief comes more than six years after Tahlequah first participated in the remarkable display of grief with a different calf.

Orca whale mom Tahlequah (J35) has been carrying her dead calf for at least 11 days.NOAA Fisheries West Coast

And the act of carrying a dead calf is just that: a sign of grief. At least, that’s what researchers think, according to KOMO, a Seattle ABC affiliate.

“If ever there has been an individual animal that has without a doubt demonstrated grief at the loss of an offspring, it’s Tahlequah,” Dr. Deborah Giles, a science and research director with whale conservation non-profitWild Orca, toldThe Seattle Times. “And here she is doing it again.”

Speaking about the killer whale mother with KOMO, Giles said, “It does strike a chord within us because we can relate to her as a grieving mother and as a member of this tight-knit community of whales that she belongs to."

The length of Tahlequah’s mourning period — at least 11 days this year, and exactly 17 days with the calf she birthed in 2018 — is a bit out of the norm, however, the researchers told KOMO. And carrying an orca calf is no small feat.

Orca whale mom Tahlequah (J35) carries her dead calf on Jan. 1, 2025.NOAA Fisheries West Coast

Speaking with the outlet, Giles explained that she is worried for Tahlequah, but not because of the physical intensity of her mourning method, however, but because of the toll it takes on the orca mother’s ability to forage for food, as well as her mental health.

“This is really sad and scary to me,” the research director toldThe Seattle Times. “She has this deep connection to her calves … all of our hearts and brains went to the possibility that she would do another tour of grief.”

“And here she is,” she said, adding that the whale mom is already “well into it.”

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J35 and her offspring are part of the J pod, a group of about 73 endangered orca whales — also called the southern resident killer whales (SRKW) — who live in the waters near western Canada and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The recent death of J35’s female calf is particularly devastating due to the loss of a potential future pod matriarch and the lineage she could have produced.

There is some good news for the J pod, however, as the Center for Whale Research has confirmed that a second calf, J62, has been born to another whale in the same pod and appears to be doing well.

Michael Weiss, research director for the center, toldThe Seattle Timesthat he is “cautiously optimistic” about the new calf. “Though with these young whales,” he added, “the first year is always challenging.”

source: people.com