Orca Tahlequah Repeats Mourning Voyage With Dead Calves
Tahlequah, the Southern Resident killer whale, repeated her 2018 post-mortem display in 2025 by carrying her dead calf for days and traveling across the Salish Sea, a behavior scientists describe as post-mortem attentive behavior that may reflect grief. The event underscores the endangered population's fragility, with threats from dwindling Chinook salmon, shipping noise, and pollutants making each birth and loss disproportionately significant for the pod.