J35 carries dead baby orca

Grieving mother highlights crisis for Southern Resident killer whales 

Images of an orca with her dead calf are spreading around the world, along with the message that the population is in serious danger

For more than a week, the West Coast — and the world — have watched as a Southern Resident killer whale mother carries her dead calf in what experts describe as a display of grief.

The calf was born on July 24 and lived for only half an hour — not long enough to be named under the system researchers use to identify each individual member of this endangered population.

Since then, its mother, J35, has carried it — usually on her head, sometimes carefully in her mouth and with a deep dive to recover it every time she takes a moment’s break. She has been doing this without interruption for so long that researchers are concerned about the consequences for her own health.

Scientists say orcas aren’t the only animals that mourn their dead. Other whales and dolphins have also been known to “keep vigils” for deceased podmates.

But the depth of J35’s display of grief has been particularly striking.

“What is beyond grief?” Deborah Giles, a research scientist for the University of Washington Center for Conservation Biologist is quoted as saying in the Seattle Times. “I don’t know what the word for that is, but that is where (the mother) is.”

The loss also highlights the critical circumstances the Southern Residents face.

As of today, the endangered Southern Resident killer whale population numbers only 75. In addition to watching J35, researchers are anxiously monitoring a four-year-old female, J50, who is dangerously emaciated and may not survive.

These salmon-eating resident killer whales, whose critical habitat is located in the transboundary waters of the Salish Sea off British Columbia and Washington State, have not produced a surviving calf since 2015. Recent research shows that 69 per cent of pregnancies are failing, likely due to poor nutrition.

The federal government acknowledged in May that this killer whale population faces “imminent threats to its survival.” The main threats are the lack of availability of Chinook salmon prey, underwater noise that interferes with basic life functions and communication, and environmental contamination.

Now that they’ve found that there are imminent threats to survival, the Ministers of Fisheries and Oceans and Environment and Climate Change are legally obligated to recommend that Cabinet issue an emergency order to protect the Southern Residents, unless there are already equivalent legal measures in place.

Ecojustice petitioned the ministers to do this in January, on behalf of the David Suzuki Foundation, Georgia Strait Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council, Raincoast Conservation Foundation and World Wildlife Fund. The petition identified specific measures that an emergency order should include, including the creation of feeding refuges closed to fishing and whale-watching, and measures to address underwater noise from shipping.

Rather than recommend an emergency order to ensure urgent the suite of protections needed, the ministers have taken limited steps on some issues by implementing fishery closures in some of the whales’ foraging areas and by clarifying, in long-overdue amendments to federal regulations, that commercial and recreational whale watchers must stay 200 metres away from killer whales. The other actions announced are voluntary, research-oriented, yet to begin,and/or lacking timelines. More is needed, and urgently.

Meanwhile, the federal government is contradicting its partial measures to protect the whales by pushing forward with the Trans Mountain pipeline, which would add 816 oil tanker trips per year — a sevenfold increase — through the whales’ critical habitat.

The National Energy Board found that the marine shipping aspect of the project would have “significant adverse effects” on the species and that an oil spill would be “potentially catastrophic.” The lack of any measures to address those effects in the board’s report and in the government’s approval of the project is the subject of ongoing litigation by Ecojustice on behalf of Raincoast Conservation Foundation and Living Oceans Society.

J35 is unwittingly putting on a prolonged, public display of the devastating consequences of inaction on these issues. We will see this sad scene repeated again and again unless meaningful action is taken.

If this week’s heart-wrenching images don’t inspire action, what will?

Threats to our environment are often hidden from public view.
So we’ve embarked on a little experiment at The Narwhal: letting our investigative journalists loose to file as many freedom of information requests as their hearts desire.

They’ve filed more than 300 requests this year — and unearthed a veritable mountain of government documents to share with readers across Canada.

But the reality is this kind of digging takes lots of time and no small amount of money.

As many newsrooms cut staff, The Narwhal has doubled down on hiring reporters to do hard-hitting journalism — and we do it all as an independent, non-profit news organization that doesn’t run any advertising.

Will you join the growing chorus of readers who have stepped up to hold the powerful accountable?
Threats to our environment are often hidden from public view.
So we’ve embarked on a little experiment at The Narwhal: letting our investigative journalists loose to file as many freedom of information requests as their hearts desire.

They’ve filed more than 300 requests this year — and unearthed a veritable mountain of government documents to share with readers across Canada.

But the reality is this kind of digging takes lots of time and no small amount of money.

As many newsrooms cut staff, The Narwhal has doubled down on hiring reporters to do hard-hitting journalism — and we do it all as an independent, non-profit news organization that doesn’t run any advertising.

Will you join the growing chorus of readers who have stepped up to hold the powerful accountable?

‘Treated like machines’: wildfire fighters describe a mental health crisis on the frontlines

Note: This story discusses mental health and suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, there’s 24/7 phone support available with Talk Suicide Canada: 1-833-456-4566, or text...

Continue reading

Recent Posts

Our members make The Narwhal’s ad-free, independent journalism possible. Will you join the pod?
Help power our ad-free, independent journalism
Investigative reporting like The Narwhal’s is now blocked on Facebook — and soon Google will do the same. One way to make sure you still get the facts? Sign up for our free newsletter.
Printed text saying: "Good news is hard to find," with each word disappearing one by one
Investigative reporting like The Narwhal’s is now blocked on Facebook — and soon Google will do the same. One way to make sure you still get the facts? Sign up for our free newsletter.