If one was to need further proof of humans’ close ties to the animal world–especially the mammal world–then they need look no further then the story of a grieving mother killer whale in the waters near Victoria, British Columbia. The orca–part of a group of whales that researchers have dubbed, “the southern resident family of orcas,” and called “critically edangered”–carried the calf on its nose for at least two days after it died during birth.
“It is unbelievably sad,” said Brad Hanson, a wildlife biologist with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center. He told the Seattle Times that he’s seen other orcas do this as well.
According to reports, the southern resident orcas have been having a rough go of it in recent years and researchers are concerned given the threats to the Endangered Species Act at the moment from the White House. The group of killer whales was listed as endangered a decade ago and there are apparently only 75 of them left as their food supply (chinook salmon) is dwindling as well. The Center for Whale Research says that over the past three years, 100 percent of whale pregnancies in this particular group have failed.
