Tahlequah with her new calf, J61. Photo: Center for Whale Research//Facebook
In 2018, a killer whale named Tahlequah stole the hearts of the public after she carried her dead calf for 17 days. Now, six years later, she’s given birth to another calf. Sadly, though, researchers keeping an eye on both the mother and her baby are concerned.
Tahlequah is part of a group of Southern Resident whales known as the J Pod. It’s one of the most well-known pods of Southern Resident orcas. She was born in 1998 and is the matriarch of the J17 matriline, a sub-group of the J Pod. The pod has a wide range, moving between the northwestern United States and southern Canada in the Pacific Ocean, and they are in dire straits. As of 2018, there were 75 of them, and the prior three years yielded no surviving calfs. A healthy population should number around 300 members.
Because of those low numbers, each calf is extraordinarily important. According to the Center for Whale Research (CWR), the new calf arrived in late December. She has been named J61 — Talequah is called J35 for research purposes — and there are indicators that she is not faring well.
“The team, including multiple experienced killer whale researchers, have expressed concern about the calf’s health based on the behavior of both J35 and J61,” CWR wrote in a Facebook post. “Early life is always dangerous for new calves, with a very high mortality rate in the first year. J35 is an experienced mother, and we hope that she is able to keep J61 alive through these difficult early days.”
The Orca Conservancy explained that experts think J61 was likely born early, possibly because Tahlequah isn’t in perfect health. In October, she was described as having a “subnormal body condition,” which could mean she’s not getting enough food. That may have been part of the cause of calf’s death in 2018.
Tahlequah carried her dead calf with her for a heartbreaking 17 days. Photo: Center for Whale Research
Researchers are relatively certain they know why the pod of whales is struggling: they are starving to death. This particular population of killer whales has been hard hit by human involvement that blocks salmon spawning routes, hatcheries, and a variety of other issues. “The cause is lack of sufficient food resources in their foraging area,” Balcomb explained. “There’s not enough food, and that’s due to environmental reasons… The hatcheries are not working. You’re genetically homogenizing the populations and they’re smaller and less fit and more expensive to produce.”
Orcas need to have enough fat storage to keep up with their body’s demands when raising a calf. From the pregnancy itself to feeding their young, the physical toll on a new mother is heavy.
“Ideally mothers need to be robust with ample fat storage to help with the demands of lactation,” the Orca Conservancy said. It’s too early to be certain that J61 will survive, but given her importance to the J Pod’s survival, all fingers are crossed for a good outcome.
