A killer whale who "cried" swam for three days with his dead child in mourning

With his dead calf on his nose, a killer whale fought for over three days in the Pacific Northwest.

The whale calf, as they are called whales, died on Tuesday. tomorrow, half an hour after his birth on the coast of Victoria, British Columbia, a 20-year-old orc called J35. As far as we know, it is the first offspring from the local population, known as Southern Orcas, since 2015.

"I think he's crying, and he refuses to let the whale go, it's like he said "Why?" "He told the New York Times Ken Balcomb, founder and scientist of the Center for Whale Research, based on the island of San Juan. The organization has followed this marine population for more than 40 years.

Southern resident orcas, made up of three different groups, generally remain near British Columbia and Washington State, although some swim north to Alaska. and southern California

Researchers fear the decline of the population, which suffers from a small number of genes, a decline in food supply and degradation of the 39; environment.

Killer whales have complex social circles, use voice communication, and exhibit emotions such as pain.

According to experts whales sometimes carry the bodies of their dead babies to the surface of the water. do it in the Pacific Northwest for a few hours in 2010. –

"We know what's going on, but it's kind of almost turned, as if I did not let go" dij or Balcomb to the Times.

J35 was seen Friday morning near the southern tip of the San Juan Islands.

"Sometimes she bites the fin and stops it," he said. "The whale is sinking because it does not have enough fat, and it goes down, it dives and picks it up again and brings it back to the surface."

The Whale Research Center said that sometimes dolphins hold and carry their young dead for a week, which demonstrates the incredibly strong connection with the mother and her offspring.