Grieving orca mother Tahlequah carries dead baby for the second time [Video]

The famous mother orca who made waves around the world for carrying her dead calf for 17 days has suffered another tragic loss.

The U.S.-based Center for Whale Research announced calf J61, the daughter of mother orca Tahlequah, hadn’t survived to see the new year, in a statement released New Year’s Day.

The calf was born just before Christmas, but was confirmed dead on New Year’s Eve, scientists said.

As was the case with the loss of her first daughter, Tahlequah has been seen carrying the body of her deceased second daughter with her. In 2018, the mother of four carried the lifeless body of her calf for 1,600 kilometres off British Columbia’s south coast for more than two weeks.

“The death of any calf in the SRKW (southern resident killer whale) population is a tremendous loss, but the death of J61 is particularly devastating,”said the centre in the statement.

…