A few years ago, an orca that floated with its dead calf for 17 days as a mourner gave birth again. Scientists broke the news just before Christmas, but they are worried about the young animal's health.
In 2018, there was a lot of news about the orca Talekua, who lost her baby half an hour after birth. Unable to bear his death, he swam with the dead calf for 17 days. He prevented the bodies from sinking and pushed them to the northwest coast of the United States and Canada.
Two years later, the killer whale, known to scientists as J35, successfully became a mother, and now a group of scientists observing the group of these animals have delivered another good news.
“My first reaction was shock”
On December 20, this female and her cub were spotted in the waters of Puget Sound in the state of Washington, USA. A few days later, researchers were able to confirm that the calf's mother was Tahlequah.
– My first reaction to seeing the calf was complete shock. I was going through the photos to see what whales had swam by the ferry I was on and noticed a much smaller humpback in one of the photos. I realized it was a tiny orca, much smaller than the others in the group, said Brittany Philbin, a nature lover and photographer, in an interview with CNN.
A killer whale with her calf in this Dec. 20 Cable News Network Inc. photo. All rights reserved 2024
However, OrcaConservancy scientists expressed concern about the calf's health based “on the behavior” of him and his mother.
As mentioned, a high mortality rate is observed in these mammals in the first year of life. “J36 is an experienced mother and we hope she can keep J61 alive during these difficult times,” a social media post said.
Image credit: Cable News Network Inc. All rights reserved 2024
