Researchers Believe Mother Orca Known for Grieving 2018 Newborn's Death Has Lost Another Calf

Mar. 15, 2025

Newborn orca whale J61.Photo:Maya Sears, NMFS/NOAA Permit 27052

Maya Sears, NMFS/NOAA Permit 27052

Tahlequah, the killer whale whocarried her dead calfand swam with him for 17 days in 2018, has likely suffered another loss.

PerThe Seattle Times, researchers believe the mother orca’s newborn calf, who the Center for Whale Research discovered the calf on Friday, Dec. 20, and given the alpha-numeric designation J61, has died.

The outlet reports that Brad Hanson, a biologist with theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationNorthwest Region in Seattle, was “on the water with other researchers for a health survey of the endangered southern resident orcas and confirmed the news.”

“Three of the four of us had been on the boat last week and were all very concerned about its viability then,” Hanson wrote in an email about J61, according toThe Seattle Times. “So while today’s observations didn’t come as a complete surprise, the general feeling was one of profound sadness, not only for J35 (Tahlequah) knowing her history, but also knowing what the loss of a female means to the potential for SRKW (southern resident killer whale) recovery.”

Orca whales J47, calf J57 and Tahlequah J35.Dave Ellifrit/Center for Whale Research

Dave Ellifrit/Center for Whale Research

On Monday, Dec. 23, a team of researchers, including scientists and multiple experienced killer whale researchers from NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center, conducted longer-term observations that allowed them to confirm the newborn calf’s mother as J35 (Tahlequah’s designation number).

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In a Dec. 21Facebook post, the Center for Whale Research also shared that orca whales need “ample access to their food supply, mainly salmon” to survive.

“Every single birth counts and these whales need enough fish to be able to support themselves and their calves,” the post reads. “We continue to advocate for salmon recovery through habitat restoration, removal of dams, and rational management of fisheries in the Pacific Northwest.”

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The orca gave birth to another calf on Sept. 4, 2020, a male who was namedJ57. The Center for Whale Research described the newborn as “healthy and precocious, swimming vigorously alongside its mother in its second day of free-swimming life.”

Per the Orca Conservancy, J61 Tahlequah gave birth to two previous calves. Her oldest, J47, also known as “Notch,” was born in 2010, and her second, J57, who became known as “Phoenix,” was born in 2020.

source: people.com