A killer whale that made headlines for 17 days in mourning to keep its dead calf on its head.
The Center
for Whale Research in Washington reported that the endangered whale - named Tahlequah
- was spotted’ with its calf in the eastern Strait of Juan de Foucault.
The center
wrote on its website, "Hooray! His new calf looked healthy and funny. He
used to swim with his mother on the second day of his free swimming life."
Researchers
say the calf was probably born on Friday because its dorsal pin was straight,
which took a day or two to straighten after being bent in the womb.
In the
summer of 2018, Tahlequah famously conducted a "grief tour" in which
he took his dead calf more than a thousand miles away and drew international
attention.
She became
pregnant again in February last year, and on Friday, a whale watcher said she
had seen the whale with a very small calf.
When
researchers followed, they said they saw the pair heading to Canada.
Divorce was
different from most other whales and was "extremely offensive", so
the scientists ended their encounter "after a few minutes and wished them
well".
"We hope
this calf is a success story," he said.
The center
said the mortality rate for young calves is 40% and a large percentage of whale
pregnancies fail due to nutritional stress.
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