A female killer whale was observed last week carrying her dead calf through Puget Sound in what experts say is further evidence that marine mammals mourn their dead.
The orca — formally known to researchers as J35 but popularly called “Tahlequah” — is believed to be about 25 years old and has successfully calved four times over the years, according to the Washington state-based nonprofit, Center for Whale Research.
The mother whale’s display of grief-like emotion — carrying the dead calf on her nose and fore back — mirrors behavior she exhibited in 2018 when she would not abandon another of her dead offspring, researchers said. She transported that calf for 17 days through cold ocean waters off the Washington coast.
Brad Hanson, a NOAA research scientist, said in a news conference Wednesday that the calf, called J61, lived for only “a handful of days,” and that Tahlequah was observed carrying the dead calf within a larger pod of southern resident killer whales.
