Heartbreaking photos show orca carrying her dead calf, just as she did for weeks in 2018

"I think it's fair to say from a scientific perspective, if they have the same hardwiring, they're going to have the same emotions (as humans)."

An orca who made international headlines in 2018 when she carried her dead calf with her for more than two weeks has now been photographed carrying another dead calf.

J35, known by the nickname Talequah, is a member of the southern resident killer whale J pod and gave birth recently to a female calf.

However, that calf is now deceased, and Talequah has been seen in Puget Sound, Washington state, carrying it with her.

“It’s that much harder to see now that she has lost another one,” Michael Milstein, a public affairs officer for West Coast Regional Office for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.

“The better news to remember is that J35 has given birth to calves that have survived and (that) gives us hope for the population.”

While J35 carried her calf more than 1,500 km in 2018, it is not known how long she may carry this calf.

Brad Hanson, who leads the Southern Resident Research Team at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center, was one of the team members who monitors the whales on the water.

He said they were alerted to a new calf in J pod on Dec. 20, 2024 and they were able to get out on the water on Dec. 23.