Grieving orca mom carries dead calf on her nose for fifth day

An endangered orca mother has been carrying her dead newborn calf on her snout for nearly a week around Washington’s Puget Sound.

Whale watchers and researchers spotted the whale known as J35, or Tahlequah, and her dead daughter, known as J61, off Whidbey Island on Sunday.

Sunday was J35’s fifth or sixth day carrying J61’s body. Researchers think they saw her pushing something through the water on Dec. 31 and clearly saw and photographed that it was her baby on Jan. 1.

In July 2018, J35 made global headlines as she swam around with a dead calf on her nose for 17 days and 1,000 miles.

Whether she will match the length of her 2018 “tour of grief” might never be known: She and her relatives may have already departed for other waters.

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Researchers say the Northwest’s fish-eating orcas, known as southern resident killer whales, typically head for the Pacific Ocean in early January in search of salmon after spending a couple months chasing the fall chum salmon runs of Puget Sound.

Observations of the whales, which roam from central California to southeast Alaska, are uncommon on the open Pacific Ocean.

Whale watchers saw southern residents swimming north past Point Wilson, the northeast tip of the Olympic Peninsula, where a boat or whale leaving central Puget Sound could turn west to head for the Pacific or continue north to the San Juan Islands just after sunset on Sunday.

As of noon Monday, there had been no further sightings or hydrophone detections of the southern residents.

J35 has lost two of four calves she is known to have given birth to.

RELATED: Endangered orcas’ circle of life: one baby dies, another is born

While many biologists frown upon anthropomorphizing animal behavior, some experts say it’s not anthropomorphizing to view J35 as a mother mourning the loss of her children.

“I think it's fair to say that she is grieving or mourning,” said wildlife veterinarian Joe Gaydos with the nonprofit SeaDoc Society.

Gaydos added, “We have the same neurotransmitters that they have. We have the same hormones that they have. Why shouldn't we also have the same emotions that they have?”

“These are very social animals, and they live in these family groups their entire life,” said National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration whale researcher Brad Hanson. “So, it does make sense to see that she would have a very strong connection to this calf, despite the fact that it didn't survive.”

“You know, we don't have the market cornered on emotions,” Gaydos said.

Two of three calves born to the southern residents in 2024 died shortly after birth. Researchers say a dearth of salmon, as well as water pollution, underwater noise, and inbreeding are all likely factors behind these untimely deaths and the southern residents' brush with extinction.

The third newborn, dubbed J62, appeared to be energetic and healthy on Sunday.