In devastating news for the Pacific Northwest population of southern resident killer whales (SRKW), Tahlequah, a 25-year-old member of the group, has lost another newborn female calf.
The mother made headlines seven years ago when she swam with her deceased calf for 17 days around the Salish Sea in an act of grieving. She has two other calves, one 14 years old and another born in 2020, both males.
Southern resident killer whales are a critically endangered population of orcas, and each loss, especially a female, is considered a huge blow to the 73 who remain. According to the Center for Whale Research, it is believed that there are just 23 breeding females left, reported The Guardian.
“The death of any calf in the SRKW population is a tremendous loss, but the death of J61 is particularly devastating, not just because she was a female, who could have one day potentially led her own matriline but also given the history of her mother J35 who has now lost two out of four documented calves – both of which were female,” the center wrote in a statement on Facebook.
The primary food source of southern resident killer whales is Chinook salmon, which have been in steep decline for years, BBC Wildlife reported. According to researchers at University of Washington, this impacts the nutrition and reproduction of the whales, which are listed as endangered in the United States and Canada.
Conservation groups have asked the environment minister of Canada to issue an emergency order to protect the imperilled species, reported The Guardian. The powers have been used just twice before: once to protect the western chorus frog of Québec, and the other to save Alberta’s greater sage-grouse.
Southern resident killer whales have been known to travel as much as 75 miles a day. In 2018, Tahlequah’s heart wrenching display of grief for her baby happened off the coast of Victoria, British Columbia. This time, she is mourning the loss of her newborn in Puget Sound, off the shores of Washington State.
SRKW face other threats, including disturbance and noise from vessels — which make it more difficult for them to hunt — as well as fishing gear, plastics and other pollution in the food chain.
“It’s so much harder to see now that she has lost another one,” said Brad Hanson, a research scientist with Seattle’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as The New York Times reported.
Hanson said he wasn’t sure why Tahlequah’s calf, born around Christmas, had died.
The deep mourning of Tahlequah of her first female calf in 2018 became a symbol of the southern resident killer whales’ plight. Though orcas sometimes display their grief as Tahlequah did, scientists considered the roughly 1,000-mile journey carrying her calf unprecedented.
Tahlequah is still caring for the second son she gave birth to in 2020.
Scientists said on Thursday that, as she clings to the body of her dead calf, Tahlequah cannot forage for food, but that her loyal pod, especially her sister, had been seen at her side throughout the ordeal.
SRKW are one of several orca communities that live in the Pacific Northwest. While they mostly occupy waters near Washington State and British Columbia, some venture south to California and north to Alaska.
Females typically live as long as 50 or 60 years and weigh as much as 16,000 pounds, while males live approximately 30 years and can weigh 22,000 pounds.
Researchers were at first optimistic about Tahlequah’s newborn, known as J61, but quickly suspected the calf was having health problems, reported The Guardian.
“Early life is always dangerous for new calves, with a very high mortality rate in the first year. J35 is an experienced mother, and we hope that she is able to keep J61 alive through these difficult early days,” the Center for Whale Research wrote on December 23.
The orca’s death left the team “deeply saddened.”
About 50 percent of orca calves die in their first year, and many orca pregnancies fail, The New York Times reported.
Another calf born to the same pod was spotted on Wednesday. Neither the mother nor the gender of the newborn have been confirmed. The calf, who appears to be healthy, brings hope to the population.
It came as no surprise to scientists that Tahlequah mourned the loss of her babies in such a profound way.
“Over the last few years, we realize that we have the same neurotransmitters that they have,” said Joe Gaydos, science director of University of California, Davis’ SeaDoc Society, as reported by The New York Times. “We have the same hormones that they have. Why shouldn’t we also have the emotions that they have? We don’t have the market cornered on emotions. So I think it’s fair to say that she is grieving or mourning.”
This article by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes was first published by EcoWatch on 3 January 2025. Lead Image: Tahlequah, the female killer whale J35, seen in December with her newborn calf J61, who has died. Center for Whale Research.
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