||| FROM PEOPLE.COM |||
Tahlequah, the killer whale who carried her dead calf and swam with him for 17 days in 2018, has likely suffered another loss.
Per The Seattle Times, researchers believe the mother orca’s newborn calf, who the Center for Whale Research discovered the calf on Friday, Dec. 20, and given the alpha-numeric designation J61, has died.
The outlet reports that Brad Hanson, a 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.”
“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, according to The Seattle Times. “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.
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’Thank you for all your work preserving the Orcas. Condolences for J61. I read an article about nanoparticles of pharmaceuticals escaping through sewage treatment into Puget Sound. Due to the currents that retain much of the water in Puget Sound, it retains measurable pharmaceutical nanoparticles as well. It is unknown to me if there is any connection here with whales who can’t thrive in Puget Sound. Best to you and your wonderful work!