The famous mother killer whale 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 killer whale carrying around her recently deceased calf, an act many experts consider an example of cetacean mourning.

Scientists from the Center for Whale Research reported Wednesday’s sighting in a Facebook post involving a female killer whale, identified as J35, and her deceased female calf, known as J61. This is the second time in seven years that J35, also known as Tahlequah, has been seen 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 indeed mourning the death of her child.

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

Tahlequah is not just a whale which has been observed to exhibit grief-like behavior, but she may be the most famous. In 2018 scientists documented Talaqua carrying its dead calf for 17 days across more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of water. Not only did Tahlequah carry her calf much longer than other whales seen doing something similar, but there were times when other members of her close-knit group also took turns carrying the calf.

Other highly social animals also appear to be capable of mourning, which may be particularly related to the death of their young. Elephants have been seen burying their dead calves, for example, while female representatives of various primate species were documented treating their reduced children in much the same way as Talekua and her calves.

The death of J61 is particularly tragic given the state of killer whales in the area. While killer whales can be found around the world in fair numbers, southern resident killer whales that live off the Pacific Northwest are threatened with extinction. So this death could further threaten the long-term survival of Tahlequah’s capsule. Orca calves usually face a harsh environment. According to the Center for Whale Research, only about 50% of calves survive their first year of life.

The researchers first got reports for the arrival of the J61 about two weeks ago, but quickly became concerned on calf health based on behavioral observations of J61 and Tahlequah. There’s at least one potential padding: Researchers have also confirmed the arrival of another J pod-traveling calf, designated J62. Although the gender of J62 is still unknown, the calf appears to be physically and behaviorally healthy at the moment.

“Researchers from CWR, NOAA and other research groups will conduct follow-up observations of J35, as well as a new J62 calf, as conditions and whale movements permit,” the Center said in its Facebook post detailing Latest status of J61 and J62.

Humans and killer whales aren’t the only animals that seem to be grieving. Some scientists claim that a much wider variety of non-human animals can recognize and respond to the concept of dying than is currently thought – an emerging field of science called comparative thanatology. So as human-like as killer whales like Tahlequah may seem to us, there may be many other animals that have their own unique way of perceiving death.