Orca, who carried his dead calf for 1,000 miles, is pregnant


SEATTLE – An orca known as Tahlequah, which sparked worldwide concern when it carried its dead calf for 17 days and more than 1,000 miles almost two years ago, is pregnant, scientists said.

Scientists John Durban, senior scientist at Southall Environmental Associates and Holly Fearnbach, director of marine mammal research for the nonprofit organization SR3, recently finished recording drone images of endangered southern whales and discovered pregnancies. between pods J, K and L, The Seattle Times reported. .

Pregnancies are not unusual, but Tahlequah’s pregnancy has special meaning for a region that suffered the death of her calf with her.

Residents of the south frequent Puget Sound, struggle to survive, and most pregnancies are unsuccessful. Tahlequah’s baby was the first for whales in three years. Residents of the south have had two more calves, in J pod and L pod. Both are still alive.

The current population of the southern killer whales is 72.

About two-thirds of all pregnancies residing in the south are generally lost, researcher Sam Wasser of the University of Washington’s Center for Conservation Biology found. According to their research, stress from hunger due to a lack of salmon is linked to the poor reproductive success of whales.

Several of the juveniles in the pods also look skinny, Fearnbach said.

“There are stressed whales, critically stressed,” he said.

Boaters should respect the space of the whales and give them the peace of mind they need, Fearnbach and Durban said. Whales use sound for hunting, and the disturbance of boats and the noise of underwater boats is one of the three main threats to their survival, in addition to the lack of adequate and available salmon and contamination.