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An endangered, grieving orca is still carrying her dead calf more than two weeks after the newborn died, CBS affiliate KIRO-TV reports. Researchers spotted the 20-year-old whale and the calf off of Washington's Olympic Peninsula on Wednesday, the station says. The calf died July 24 and images of the mother, also known as Tahlequah or J35, have struck the hearts of people worldwide. She has been carrying the calf with her for 16 straight days. "She literally is pushing her baby to connect with it and, hope against hope -- hoping that it will take a breath, which it will never do," biologist and wildlife conservationist Jeff Corwin told CBSN. "I can imagine this [mourning period] could take a very, very long time." Just like humans, Corwin said, grief has to "take its course." He said it would be "stressful" for experts to intervene in the whale's process, adding that J35 "probably is medically or physically healthy to survive."
As of June 2018, the souther resident killer whale population -- the orcas found off the Puget Sound -- totals just 75 whales, according to the Center for Whale Research. While killer whales as a whole aren't threatened, the southern resident population is considered endangered under the Endangered Species Act, according to NOAA.
originally posted by: seattlerat
a reply to: BrianFlanders
There's a good chance that her misery is a direct result of hunger that is caused by heartless human behaviors. Why not feed the whales heartless humans and get rid of the source of the problem?
originally posted by: carewemust
a reply to: seattlerat
Orcas are smarter than humans. Human Mothers will kill their child, even before it's born, and not give it a second thought.
originally posted by: Bluntone22
I watched one of those nature shows on Netflix recently. One of the stories had three orca harassing a baby whale"dont remember what type" until it died from exhaustion. Its mother tried to keep it safe but it failed in the end.
After it died the orca just ate its tongue, then left...
After watching that episode it's hard for me to feel much sympathy for this whale.
Nature's a bitch.
originally posted by: carewemust
a reply to: seattlerat
Orcas are smarter than humans. Human Mothers will kill their child, even before it's born, and not give it a second thought.
After it died, Tahlequah refused to let it sink to the bottom to be eaten by predators. Instead, she kept the calf afloat, pushing it with her forehead while heading east from the southeast tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia toward San Juan Island, USA, north of Puget Sound.
At sunset, a group of about half a dozen female orcas gathered near the mouth of San Juan Islandβs Eagle Cove, a resident reported to the Center for Whale Research. This group took turns keeping the dead baby orca afloat, and kept the baby in a patch of moonlight on the ocean for about two hours. βAs the light dimmed, I was able to watch them continue what seemed to be a ritual or ceremony. They stayed directly centered in the moonbeam, even as it moved,β the resident reported.
originally posted by: Bluntone22
I watched one of those nature shows on Netflix recently. One of the stories had three orca harassing a baby whale"dont remember what type" until it died from exhaustion. Its mother tried to keep it safe but it failed in the end.
After it died the orca just ate its tongue, then left...
After watching that episode it's hard for me to feel much sympathy for this whale.
Nature's a bitch.
originally posted by: Bluntone22
After watching that episode it's hard for me to feel much sympathy for this whale.
Nature's a bitch.
originally posted by: Bluntone22
I watched one of those nature shows on Netflix recently. One of the stories had three orca harassing a baby whale"dont remember what type" until it died from exhaustion. Its mother tried to keep it safe but it failed in the end.
After it died the orca just ate its tongue, then left...
After watching that episode it's hard for me to feel much sympathy for this whale.
Nature's a bitch.
originally posted by: seattlerat
a reply to: BrianFlanders
There's a good chance that her misery is a direct result of hunger that is caused by heartless human behaviors. Why not feed the whales heartless humans and get rid of the source of the problem?
originally posted by: BrianFlanders
originally posted by: seattlerat
a reply to: BrianFlanders
There's a good chance that her misery is a direct result of hunger that is caused by heartless human behaviors. Why not feed the whales heartless humans and get rid of the source of the problem?
Because humans aren't tasty and whales are.