Tahlequah, an endangered Pacific Northwest orca that came into the news in 2018 for carrying her dead newborn for more than two weeks is doing it again following the death of her new calf, American media reported early Friday (Jan 3) citing researchers.

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Tahlequah, also known as J35, was seen carrying the body of the deceased female calf since Wednesday. In a post on Facebook, the Center for Whale Research said that it was deeply saddened by the news. 

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The centre said that roughly two weeks ago, it had been made aware of the new calf. But, on Christmas Eve, the agency said that it was concerned about the calf's health based on its behaviour and that of its mother.

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'Calf was alive only for a handful of days'

Speaking to the Associated Press, a research scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Brad Hanson said that by New Year's Day (January 1), the agency confirmed that J35 was carrying her calf's dead body.

Hanson said that J35 was draping the dead calf across her snout or on top of her head and that she appeared to dive for it when it sank from the surface. 

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He pointed out that the calf was only alive for a handful of days. 

The Center for Whale Research, meanwhile, described the death of J35's calf as particularly devastating- not only because she could have eventually grown to give birth and bolster the struggling population, but because J35 has now lost two out of four documented calves.

The change in behavioural pattern

Joe Gaydos from the University of California, Davis said, "I think it's fair to say that she is grieving or mourning." 

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Gaydos, who is the science director of SeaDoc at the university, said that a similar behaviour (of grieving or mourning) could also be seen in other socially cohesive animals with relatively long life spans, such as primates and dolphins. 

(With inputs from agencies)