Orca Tahlequah's new baby dies

Lynda V. Mapes, The Seattle Times on Dec 31, 2024

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SEATTLE — In a day of sadness and surprise, researchers on Puget Sound on Tuesday found J61, the new calf born to mother orca Tahlequah, had not survived — and that a new calf also had been born to J pod.

Brad Hanson, biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Northwest Region in Seattle, was on the water with other researchers for a health survey of the endangered southern resident orcas and confirmed the news.

Tahlequah’s new calf was especially important as it was a female. The birth also was of symbolic importance to the region. Tahlequah is the mother orca who carried her calf that lived only a half-hour in 2018 in a journey of more than 1,000 miles and 17 days, stirring grief around the world.

The mother and gender of the new calf is not yet confirmed.

Baby orcas always face long odds of survival. Tahlequah’s calf appeared to be having trouble from the start, with the mother often pushing her and carrying her and the baby not looking as lively as he might have expected, Hanson said, after getting a look at her last week.

The southern residents are the orcas that frequent Puget Sound. The families live in the J, K and L pods and are endangered, with only 73 orcas in the population.

They face numerous threats, including lack of salmon, especially Chinook; too much vessel noise and disturbance, which makes it harder for them to hunt; and pollution in their food.

It was a hard day for scientists who have followed the southern residents through their many difficulties and are working for their recovery.

“Three of the four of us had been on the boat last week and were all very concerned about its viability then,” Hanson wrote in an email about J61. “So while today’s observations didn’t come as a complete surprise, the general feeling was one of profound sadness, not only for J35 (Tahlequah) knowing her history, but also knowing what the loss of a female means to the potential for SRKW (southern resident killer whale) recovery.”