WASHINGTON: A grieving female killer whale that carried her dead calf for more than two weeks in 2018 has again lost a newborn and is carrying its carcass, US marine researchers said.
Scientists say whales are among the most intelligent animals in the world, exhibiting complex social behavior that includes self-awareness and suffering.
The endangered orca Tahlequah, also known as J35, was seen carrying her dead calf in Puget Sound off Seattle on New Year’s Day, the Washington State Center for Whale Research said.
“J-35 is seen carrying the carcass of a dead calf,” the center said in an Instagram post on Thursday.
“This behavior was previously observed by J35 in 2018 when it carried the carcass of its dead calf for 17 days,” he said.
American media reported that when Tahleqa was carrying her former stillborn newborn seven years ago, she was seen sometimes touching his body by the nose and sometimes holding it by the mouth.
“It’s a very tragic ordeal,” Ken Balcomb, founder of the Center for Whale Research, told public broadcaster NPR at the time.
The center said the loss of the latest female calf was “particularly devastating” because Tahlequah has now lost two of its four documented calves.
“We hope to learn more about the situation through further observation,” Post said.
The Center also said that Tehelika’s pod has been joined by another newborn. “The gender of the calf is yet to be determined but the team reports that the calf was physically and behaviorally normal,” the center said.