A famous orca mother has been seen carrying a dead calf for the second time

Humans are not the only ones who grieve the loss of loved ones. Whale researchers have just documented a mother whale carrying her recently deceased calf — an act that many experts believe is an example of mourning among whales.

Scientists at the Center for Whale Research I mentioned The sightings on Wednesday in a Facebook post include a female orca designated J35 and her deceased calf, known as J61. This is the second time in seven years that J35, also known as Tahlequah, has been observed carrying one of her dead calves. While the exact nature of this behavior may never be fully understood, at least some marine scientists believe that J35 is truly mourning the death of her baby.

“I think it’s fair to say she’s sad or mourning,” Joe Gaydos, scientific director of SeaDoc at the University of California, Davis, said. He said AP Friday.

Tahlequah is not him Pisces only Which has been observed to exhibit sadness-like behavior, but it may be the most well-known. In 2018, scientists documented Tahlequah carrying its dead calf for 17 days across more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of water. Not only did Tahlequah carry her calf much longer than other whales that had been seen doing something similar, but there were points where other members of her compact pod seemed to take turns carrying the calf as well.

Other social animals appear to be capable of grief as well, which may be particularly linked to the death of their young. Elephants have been seen burial For example, their calves were dead, while females of different primate species were Notarized They cling to their young ones in the same way as hawks and their calves.

J61’s death is particularly tragic given the state of killer whales in the area. While killer whales can be found around the world in healthy numbers, the southern resident killer whales that live off the Pacific Northwest are also Endangered. So this die-off could increase the risk of Tahlequah pod survival in the long term. Orca calves generally face a harsh environment. According to the Center for Whale Research, only about 50% of calves survive their first year of life.

Researchers received for the first time Reports The J61 arrived about two weeks ago, but quickly He became anxious On calf health based on behavioral observations of J61 and Tahlequah. There is a potential silver lining, at least: Researchers have also confirmed the arrival of another calf traveling with the J pod, named J62. Although J62’s sex is still unknown, the calf appears physically and behaviorally healthy at this time.

“Researchers from CWR, NOAA and other research groups will conduct follow-up observations of whale J35, as well as the new calf J62 when conditions and whale movements allow,” the center said in its Facebook post. Detail Latest J61 and J62 case.

Humans and killer whales aren’t the only animals that appear to be sad. Some scientists argue that there is a much larger group of non-human animals that can recognize and respond to the concept of death than is currently assumed – an emerging scientific field called Comparative anatomy. So, although killer whales like Tahlequah are human-like, there are probably many other animals that have their own unique way of digesting death.