Grieving mother orca pushing dead calf's body for over 10 days: US research center

HAMILTON, Canada 

A mother orca is continuing to carry the dead body of her calf that died about two weeks ago, according to the Center for Whale Research.

In a Facebook post, the US-based research center said that the mother killer whale, also known as J35 or Tahlequah, "was still carrying her dead calf."

"We were not seeing much of the carcass and the seas were starting to get sloppier but J35 appeared to be trying to keep it from sinking," in an area between the Vancouver Island and San Juan Island in Washington state.

The mother killer whale is previously known for pushing the dead body of her another newborn for 17 days in 2018.

According to researchers, Tahlequah is showing the same reaction to her dead calf in "an act of grief."

Meanwhile, the center also announced that another whale calf was born on Dec. 30 and now appears "healthy."

In 2018, the center reported that nearly 75% of newborn orcas have not survived in the recent two decades while "100% of the pregnancies in the past three years have failed to produce viable offspring."