Orca That Carried Dead Calf for 17 Days Gives Birth Again

J35 had a calf in 2018 that died shortly after birth off the coast of Victoria, British Columbia. The mother continued to carry the calf, pushing it through the water

and repeatedly diving deep to retrieve it when it fell away. Orcas sometimes do that for a little while, but J35’s journey of apparent grief lasted 17 days and covered about 1,000 miles, attracting wide attention at a moment when government agencies were grappling with how to alter the population’s downward trajectory.

Ken Balcomb, founding director of the Center for Whale Research, documented the newest calf, listed now as J57, in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which separates the Olympic Peninsula of Washington from Vancouver Island.

“The baby looked very robust and lively, so I have good expectations for this one surviving,” Mr. Balcomb said.

He added that he was hopeful that recent efforts could bring back more robust runs of chinook salmon, the primary food source for the Southern Resident orcas. He pointed to the removal of a dam on the Elwha River, which empties into the strait, as a possible turning point.

Two other whales in the pods also are pregnant, Mr. Balcomb said. Researchers watch each of them closely, he said, because the pods now have only a half-dozen families that have been really successful at producing calves. J35 had a calf in 2010 that is still alive.