A mother orca in the waters off Washington State who carried their dead calf for 2 weeks has a new healthy baby according to Michael Weiss, research director of the Center for Whale Research.

The orca, named Tahlequah, was first spotted on Dec. 20 swimming with the calf known to researchers as J35. The J-Pod had been swimming the Puget Sound for the past several weeks and researchers could not identify the calf with any certainty. On Monday researchers were able to confirm the calf’s mother was in fact Tahlequah.

Prior to confirming the calfs mother a nature enthusiast in the area told CNN that they photographed the mother and calf with even releasing it.

Mother orca Tahlequah has a new calf. The J pod orca caught the world’s attention when she lost a calf in the summer of 2018 and carried it for more than 17 days and 1,000 miles. The orca who swam with her dead calf for 17 days in an apparent act of grieving recently gave birth to a new baby, according to Michael Weiss, research director of the Center for Whale Research. The calf born to Tahlequah, known to researchers as J35, was first spotted on December 20 swimming along with J pod in the Puget Sound area for the past several days. Initially, the researchers could not confirm the identity of the calf with certainty. On Monday, however, scientists and researchers observing the calf “confidently” assigned Tahlequah as the mother and the baby as alpha-numeric J61, Weiss said to CNN. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/climate-lab/tahlequah-mother-orca-made-famous-by-her-grief-has-a-new-baby/

The Center for Whale Research was able to photograph the calf’s underside and confirm it’s gender to be female, according to a Facebook post from the center. ( 

Image:

Brittany Philbin)

“My first reaction to seeing the calf was complete shock I was just looking through my photos to see who the whales were that passed close to the port side of the ferry I was on and noticed a much smaller dorsal on one of the photos.,” he told CNN. “As I scrolled through the series I realized it was a very tiny calf, much smaller than any of the known young ones in the group. Based on the size and color of the calf, I realized it was a new calf and traveling with J35, my spark whale, the whale that started my obsession.”

The Center for Whale Research was able to photograph the calf’s underside and confirm it’s gender to be female, according to a Facebook post from the center.

The increased attention paid to Tahlequah’s newborn calf stem from headlines the orca made in 2018 when she carried her deceased calf for nearly two weeks, refusing to let it sink to the bottom. She reportedly swam 1,000 miles out to sea with calf. The calf had reportedly died shortly after being born, CNN reported.

She had her first known calf two years later in 2020 and is the mother another orca in the pod known as J47.

Despite Tahlequah’s healthy new calf researchers are still concerned about the orca population in the pacific region. They are listed as endangered in both Canada and the U.S. researchers say they are “one of the most critically endangered populations of marine mammals in the USA.”

caption: Grieving orca carries dead calf's corpse above the water more than TWO WEEKS Tahlequah the Orca

She had her first known calf two years later in 2020 and is the mother another orca in the pod known as J47. ( 

Image:

Center for Whale Research)

“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,” the Center for Whale Research said in a post on Facebook Tuesday.

“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 post read.