Riccardo Liguori The story of Tahlequah, the orca known for her heartbreaking grief, repeats itself. The new cub died a few weeks after birth, leaving the mother and her pack in deep grief. An event that highlights the critical situation of the orcas of the Pacific Northwest, at risk of extinction
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The whole world is mourning with Tahlequah, the Pacific Northwest orca whose heart-wrenching act of grief in 2018 riveted the attention of the entire world.
Seven years ago, this mother orca swam with her dead calf for 17 days, over 1,000 miles, in one of the most powerful expressions of maternal love and loss. The image became a rallying cry for raising awareness about the dire situation facing this endangered species.
Today is another tragedy. Tahlequah, or J35 to the researchers at the Center for Whale Research, was seen swimming with the body of her new calf, which died just a few weeks from birth. As per a news release on this incident given by the research center, all scientists and fans of the wild have reason to be terribly saddened.
“The entire team at the Center for Whale Research is deeply saddened by this news,” a post shared to Facebook and Instagram read.
Researchers called Tahlequah’s actions a definite show of mourning. Her pod also seems to take turns keeping her company, just as it did in 2018.
A mother’s grief
Brad Hanson, a researcher with the Center for Whale Research, has been monitoring Tahlequah closely. He explained in the Post how the mother balances the body of her calf on her nose or head and then dives deep to catch her baby when it slips beneath the surface.
“I think it’s fair to say she’s grieving,” said Joe Gaydos, science director of SeaDoc at the University of California.
Gaydos also remarked that similar behaviors occur in other long-lived social animals, such as Gelada baboons, Japanese macaques, chimpanzees, and mountain gorillas.
More than an individual tragedy
But the death of Tahlequah’s calf is not an individual issue only; it’s a critical warning about what does stand for the Pacific Northwest orcas. Extremely high rates of mortality among calves-no more than one in five calves ever reach their first year of life-make an already grim statistic worse for an already critically declining population.
Southern Resident orcas, like Tahlequah, are fish-eating orcas that feed largely on Chinook salmon; their population hovers at just about 73 animals, a low number that holds them on the brink of extinction.
The reasons: dwindling salmon stocks, pollution in the waters, and noise from vessels that interferes with their hunting activity.
The loss of every calf is a big blow to this dwindling population, where every new birth means hope for the future of Tahlequah’s species. It is sad that Tahlequah has now lost two out of four calves, showing the urgency in mitigating threats to this iconic marine mammal.
