Hanson, who was capable of observe her behaviour from a ship on Wednesday, mentioned J35 was draping the useless calf throughout her snout or on prime of her head, and that she appeared to dive for it when it sank from the floor. He mentioned the calf was solely alive for a “handful of days”.
“I believe it’s truthful to say that she is grieving or mourning,” Joe Gaydos, science director of SeaDoc on the College of California, Davis, mentioned of J35. Related behaviour may also be seen in different socially cohesive animals with comparatively lengthy life spans, equivalent to primates and dolphins, he added.
Calf mortality is excessive: Solely about one in 5 orca pregnancies lead to a calf that lives to its first birthday, in response to the Heart for Whale Analysis. The centre’s analysis director, Michael Weiss, estimated that solely 50 per cent of orca calves survive their first yr.
The centre described the dying of J35’s calf as notably devastating – not solely as a result of she may have ultimately grown to provide beginning and bolster the struggling inhabitants, however as a result of J35 has now misplaced two out of 4 documented calves.
The inhabitants of southern resident killer whales – three pods of fish-eating orcas that frequent the waters between Washington state and British Columbia – has struggled for many years, with solely 73 remaining. They need to deal with a dearth of their most popular prey, Chinook salmon, in addition to air pollution and vessel noise, which hinders their looking. Researchers have warned they’re on the point of extinction.
Different southern resident orcas have been noticed carrying useless calves, Weiss mentioned, “however actually not for so long as J35 carried her calf in 2018.”
There was some excellent news for the J pod, nonetheless: One other new calf, J62, was noticed alive by officers and scientists.
Southern resident orcas are endangered, and distinct from different killer whales as a result of they eat salmon somewhat than marine mammals. Particular person whales are recognized by distinctive markings or variations of their fin shapes, and every whale is given a quantity and identify.
Travelling collectively in matrilineal teams, the orcas at instances will be seen breaching round Puget Sound, even towards the backdrop of the downtown Seattle skyline.
