The killer whale, which captured hearts around the world in 2018 by refusing to give up its dead calf, has given birth to its second child in the past four years.
The Center for Whale Research said that a team of researchers was able to begin monitoring the newborn girl on Monday, and gave the calf the alphanumeric designation J61. The center added that it is “keen” to conduct follow-up operations on the calf.
Her mother is known as Tahlequah, classification number J35. Researchers assign the animals alphanumeric identities and eventually nicknames to go with them.
The Center for Whale Research expressed concern about the health of both J61 and her mother.
“Early life is always dangerous for new calves, with a very high mortality rate in the first year.” The Center for Whale Research said Tuesday. “J35 is an experienced mother, and we hope she will be able to keep J61 alive through these difficult early days.”
Tahlequah made international headlines in 2018 when she carried her dead calf for 17 days, touching the hearts of people everywhere. By the time she left the baby’s body, she had carried the calf on her head for 1,000 miles. Washington Governor Jay Inslee had already signed an executive order that year to create a task force for southern resident killer whales. The goal was to study ways to preserve and restore the local orca population.
J61 is Tahlequah The third child calf to survive. The largest, J47, or “Notch,” was born in 2010, and the second, J57, or “Phoenix,” was born in 2020.
Tahlequah and her babies live inside the J-pod of killer whales, inhabiting the waters along the coast between Washington State and Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
J-pod is one of three groups of killer whales known as “southern resident” killer whales. There are only about 73 orcas in all three groups, According to the Orca Conservancy.
according to An NBC affiliate owned by SeattleThis year’s study showed that the southern whale population is declining by about one whale per year and that there will remain fewer than two dozen whales this century.
Killer whales are considered an endangered species because they face a variety of threats, including entanglement in fishing nets, dwindling food supplies, human interference, and pollution of their habitats. It is estimated that there is only 50 thousand killer whales Worldwide.
Pollutants in the water are a major concern for killer whale populations. Toxins from industrial chemicals do not break down, concentrate in the food chain supply and are then stored in the orcas’ blubber, according to the researchers. Georgia Strait Alliance.
The coalition said that young killer whales are exposed to pollutants through their mother’s milk, which threatens their survival in their first year.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration notes that there are “relatively high levels of pollutants” among female southern resident whales and their offspring.
“We are concerned about the impact these contaminants may have on this population,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in its 2022 health assessment of the capsule.