Humans are not the only ones to experience grief over the loss of a loved one. Whale researchers recently captured footage of a mother killer whale carrying her recently deceased calf around. It's an act that many experts believe is an example of mourning among whales.
Scientists from the Whale Research Center Reported Wednesday's sighting, posted on Facebook, involved a female killer whale named J35 and her deceased female calf, known as J61, marking the second time in seven years that J35, also known as Tahlequah was found holding one of her dead calves. The true nature of this behavior may never be fully understood, though. But at least some marine scientists believe J35 is truly mourning the death of her child.
“I think it's fair to say that she was grieving or grieving,” said Joe Gaydos, SeaDoc's scientific director at the University of California, Davis. tell AP Friday
Tahlequah is not. only whale who were viewed as having melancholy-like behavior But she is perhaps most famous. In 2018, scientists recorded Tahlequah carrying a dead calf for 17 days across more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of water. Tahlequah not only carried her calf longer than any other whale, Any other seen while doing similar things But there are still some points where other members In her tight pod they seemed to take turns holding the baby as well.
Other highly social animals It seems possible to grieve as well. This may be related to the death of their children, especially having seen an elephant. Burial like a dead calf while female members of various primate species document He carried his less privileged children in the same manner as Tahlequah and her children.
J61's death is especially tragic considering the plight of killer whales in the area. Although killer whales can be found around the world in healthy numbers, But the southern resident killer whale lives off the Pacific Northwest. in danger– Therefore, this death may have had a negative effect on the long-term survival of Tahlequah's pod. Orca babies generally are exposed to harsh environments. According to the Whale Research Center It has been found that only about 50% of calves survive their first year of life.
The researcher first received report Or the arrival of J61 about two weeks ago but quickly. Starting to worry more Regarding the health of the calves, based on observations of J61 and Tahlequah's behavior, there seems to be at least a silver lining: Researchers also confirmed the arrival of another calf traveling on the J pod, called J62, although J62's gender remains unknown. Not sure for sure The calf appears to be in good physical and behavioral health at this time.
“Researchers from CWR, NOAA and other research groups Follow-up surveys for J35, including the new calf J62, will be conducted as conditions and whale movement permit,” the center said in a Facebook post. details Latest status of J61 and J62
Humans and killer whales aren't the only animals grieving. Some scientists argue that a wider range of nonhuman animals are more able to recognize and respond to the idea of death than currently thought. which is an emerging field of science called comparative thanatology– So even though orcas like Tahlequah may look similar to humans to us, There may be other animals. Many other species have their own unique way of capturing death.