WA - Orca mother carries dead calf for fourth day, San Juan Islands

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DakotaMayi

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**Disclaimer** I am Anti Cap through and through and will never give a cent to animal abusers like Seaworld who separate their Orca mothers from their babies, from their whole entire pods. It's stories like these that prove that these animals feel for their babies, what we feel for ours.

‘We won’t give up as long as she doesn’t’: Orca mother carries dead calf for fourth day

SAN JUAN ISLANDS — Researchers continue to keep vigil Friday as an endangered orca mother carried her dead calf for a fourth straight day in the Salish Sea, a heart-rending spectacle that has drawn worldwide attention.

“It’s tough to watch and hard work, but we won’t give up as long as she doesn’t,” said Taylor Shedd, program coordinator for Soundwatch, who is watching over the grieving mother and her calf.
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Through Friday evening, as researchers left her for the night, the orca known as J35 was carrying the dead calf on her rostrum, the area of her head just behind the nose.

“Her breaths are deep and long,” Shedd said. “She takes a few seconds longer to surface than the other animals. I can’t even pretend to imagine what she’s going through, but it must be horrible. There’s not a whole lot we can do for her now, but anything we can do is worth it.”
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The younger whales, including her other calf, are foraging, and Shedd said he hoped they may be catching fish to feed her, but he could not tell for sure.


“She is still pushing her calf, but doesn’t seem to be in the pattern that we left her in yesterday. Where she would drop the calf and have to take deep dives to retrieve it. She seems to be traveling in a more ‘normal’ pattern.”

Her movements are slowing. J35 carried the calf 20 miles one night into the next morning. But Friday, a day with strong tides because of the full moon, she stayed in the same spot all day with her family, Sledd said, facing into the current.
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That poor mommy :(
 
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Elainera said:
Yes that is heartbreaking :(

Is this normal behaviour for Orcas? What will she do with the calf?

I hope she finds peace soon. Please keep us updated!
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Yes. Not an always occurrence. But Orca's have highly emotional lives and science shows their brains are far more complex than ours. Orca's cry for their babies.

They are my favorite animal and each time I see them (in the wild! NOT in concrete cells) it leaves me feeling quite emotional to see such an amazing creature in their natural habitat doing what they should be doing. She's a member of the J-pod. I am glad her family have remained with her and am not shocked that they have.

(Btw, if anyone feels as strongly as I do about their freedom. You can check out the Dolphin Project and google Ric O'Barry. He's a big name in the Dolphin world and has made some great strides in getting these animals their rights back. - Also, he's been arrested numerous times for this. Nothing stops him. <3 - Also, checkout Blackfish).
 
And this is the main reason why I became a vegetarian 9 years ago and am currently making the transition to veganism -although a careful one as I have seen this movement has its fair share of eco-terrorists :mad: and people like Gary Yourofsky so I double-check everybody I am in contact with from this movement to avoid radicals and nutsos at all costs.

People should never visit zoos, circuses and places like Seaworld let alone with their children as it would only teach them that animal torture is OK.

This Orca mum is mourning her baby, that is heartbreaking :(
 
I agree with the sentiment expressed by all of you here. How humans treat animals is just unfathomable to me! It often gives me nightmares and trouble sleeping.

But many people don't even realize the suffering of animals. Just recently my mom told me she went to the zoo with my 10 year old niece and that it was "nice" to see the animals :confused: I would have just cried the whole time had I gone with them (and surely they would've all told me that I'm "too sensitive").

I searched for an update and learned that orcas are in danger of becoming extinct :( I didn't know that. This mommy's pod only has 76 members left and some of the females will soon be too old to carry offspring. There were high hopes for this baby because it was (is) female. There is a high likelyhood that it died because of malnourishment of the mom due to overfishing.

It's like she's flaunting her dead baby in our faces - "see what you do to us?" Prayers and love to her.
 
Elainera said:
UPDATE: Orca mother carries dead calf for sixth day as family stays close by

Says in an update she is now carrying it for the 6th day.

Are they feeding her?

Article also says that another youngster from the pod appears to be starving. Oh man :(
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This is tragic. And extremely worrying. Yes,they are at risk of becoming extinct. Certain Pods more than others.

When I was younger, we went a did the Seaworld thing in Orlando. It never crossed our minds to even think about what was happening. Now, looking back, we feel so foolish to have not have thought about the space these animals need, their families that they are separated from, how they get these animals to do "tricks". Now, it's clear as day. And this is one of the reasons that Seattle is one of my favorite places. Being there and seeing them in the wild is one of the best things I've ever seen.

I said in my first post that I am Anti cap through and through, which I am when it comes to places such as Seaworld & Loro Parque and the rest. But, some captivity programs do good, and by captivity, I mean sanctuary's, for animals that can't be in the wild. I recognize that but, keeping food from animals so that they do tricks? It's not ok. Taking Orca's right out of the ocean and risking the future of the pod so some idiot can use them as a surf board? No.

It will never change, these animals will never be safe as long as we are on the planet. Sure, the ones in the sound are protected from capture, but there are Orca's everywhere that are at risk from us either catching them and holding them captive or catching all of their food sources.
 
AnaPisces said:
This is tragic. And extremely worrying. Yes,they are at risk of becoming extinct. Certain Pods more than others.

When I was younger, we went a did the Seaworld thing in Orlando. It never crossed our minds to even think about what was happening. Now, looking back, we feel so foolish to have not have thought about the space these animals need, their families that they are separated from, how they get these animals to do "tricks". Now, it's clear as day. And this is one of the reasons that Seattle is one of my favorite places. Being there and seeing them in the wild is one of the best things I've ever seen.

I said in my first post that I am Anti cap through and through, which I am when it comes to places such as Seaworld & Loro Parque and the rest. But, some captivity programs do good, and by captivity, I mean sanctuary's, for animals that can't be in the wild. I recognize that but, keeping food from animals so that they do tricks? It's not ok. Taking Orca's right out of the ocean and risking the future of the pod so some idiot can use them as a surf board? No.

It will never change, these animals will never be safe as long as we are on the planet. Sure, the ones in the sound are protected from capture, but there are Orca's everywhere that are at risk from us either catching them and holding them captive or catching all of their food sources.
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I agree with everything you said Ana. Many species face similar cruel situations, elephants, lions, rhinos etc.

Could the mom also die if she doesn't let the baby go? She must be weak now.

If food is one of the problems, can they be fed? Some kind of feeding stations? Or is that not possible in the wild?
 
Elainera said:
I agree with everything you said Ana. Many species face similar cruel situations, elephants, lions, rhinos etc.

Could the mom also die if she doesn't let the baby go? She must be weak now.

If food is one of the problems, can they be fed? Some kind of feeding stations? Or is that not possible in the wild?
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I would have thought she could die, yes. She must be getting weaker. Also, could infection could be caused from the body? Maybe?

I would love to say yes, they should help and maybe they can in some way but, wild animals are just that, wild. And Orca travel up to 100 miles a day, so having food where they are at is a tough ask. Also, I guess, we shouldn't be interfering with wild animals so much that their instincts are tampered with. I don't know. I want there to be some way they can be helped, but, at the rate in which Dolphins die, I don't think there is.
 
My father was professional fisherman. He once pulled up a lobster trap where a dolphin had got its head stuck in the trap and drowned. Being a practical man, he thought that he would take it home and use it for bait, but the dolphins mate followed his trawler and he felt so sorry for it, he gave the body back to it. It upset him terribly and he felt guilt about it.
 
Elainera said:
Tour giant Thomas Cook to axe trips to SeaWorld
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Good. Tili has killed his fair share while there - Dawn Brancheau being the most known - and one at Loro Parque (was it Morgan?) has killed that trainer, Alexis Martinez. That Orca was on loan to Loro Parque from Seaworld.

No, sorry, my mistake, it was not Morgan (I think she might be in the Netherlands). It was Keto. The park, at first, said that Alexis' death was an accident and that his body showed no signs on violence but his autopsy told a different story. Keto pulled Alexis under water and rammed into his chest, he died from internal bleeding and had multiple compression fractures, tears to vital organs, and the bite marks of the animal on his body. Keto was not responding to commands and I believe killed Alexis out of frustration.

A SeaWorld employee described the 21 event in an incident report. After Keto failed to perform a number of behaviors correctly, A. M. and Keto were floating on the surface of the pool: Keto came up with [A. M.] and appeared calm but did appear to position himself between [A. M.] and the stage. [A. M.] waited for calmness from Keto and asked for a stage call (underwater tone). Keto responded and was received at stage by Brian. . . . Brian instructed [A. M.] to swim out (toward the slideover). When [A. M.] commenced swimming (sculling) Keto began leaning toward him. Brian attempted another hand target but Keto left control and engaged [A. M.] by pushing him to the bottom with his rostrum. Brian observed the intensity of the situation and decided to initiate a hand slap. Keto did not respond. Brian tapped the bucket, then hand slapped again. It appeared Keto responded, came to the surface for a breath. The alarm was sounded. Keto immediately after taking a breath returned to [A. M.] and then resurfaced near stage with [A. M.] on his rostrum and with his mouth closed. (Exh. C-6, p. 2725). Keto released A. M., who sank to the bottom of the pool. Mr. Rokeach and the Loro Parque trainers were eventually able to get Keto to enter another pool, where Keto could be isolated while A. M.’s body was recovered. While the gate was closing Keto began to play with it, keeping it open. After trainers released a net into the pool, Keto allowed the gate to close. Mr. Rokeach entered the stage pool and retrieved A. M.’s body from the bottom.

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment temporarily suspended waterwork in all of its parks immediately following A.M.’s death, then resumed waterwork shortly afterwards. Loro Parque ceased (apparently permanently) all waterwork with killer whales.

During the local investigation into the death of Alexis Martinez, it came to light that the park had also mischaracterized to the public a 2007 incident with Tekoa, the other male, and claimed it was also an accident rather than an attack.

The autopsy for Dawn Brancheau showed that she died from drowning and blunt force trauma. Her spinal cord was severed, and she had sustained fractures to her jawbone, ribs, and a cervical vertebra. Her scalp was completely torn off from her head, her left arm had been ripped off near the shoulder, and her left elbow and left knee had been dislocated.

On February 24, 2010, Brancheau performed a Dine with Shamu show with Tilikum, the largest orca at SeaWorld Orlando. In this setting, guests ate at an open-air restaurant while watching the performance poolside as the orca was exercised and fed. As part of the end-of-show routine, she was at the edge of the pool, rubbing Tilikum's head. She was lying with her face next to Tilikum's on a slide-out, which is a platform submerged about a foot into the water. Sources stated that she was pulled into the water by her ponytail; the orca's move seems to have been very quick, pulling her underwater and drowning her. At least a dozen patrons witnessed Brancheau in the water with Tilikum. Employees used nets and threw food at Tilikum in an attempt to distract him. Moving from pool to pool in the complex, they eventually directed Tilikum to a smaller, medical pool, where it would be easier to calm him. The orca subsequently released Brancheau's body.

All in all, the answer is, that these animals do not belong in these places.
 
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