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Not again...Orca Mourns Second Calf Since 2018 · How To Protect The Ocean

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  In 2018, an orca designated as J35 of
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  the Southern Resident Orca Population captured global attention
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  when she carried her deceased calf for 17 days, traversing over
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  1,000 miles in a profound display of grief. This behavior highlighted the
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  deep emotional bonds these creatures share and brought to light the
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  precarious state of the Southern Resident Orca Population. Fast
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  forward to December 2024, researchers from the Center of Whale Research confirmed
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  that J35 had given birth to a new calf designated J61.
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  Fantastic! The birth of the calf was a beacon of hope for
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  the endangered Southern Resident Orca population, currently numbers only
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  73,000. individuals. However, this optimism, unfortunately, was short
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  lived. By January 1st, 2025, observations had
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  revealed that J61 had passed away and
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  J35 was once again seen carrying her deceased offspring.
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  We're going to talk about the significance of this. We're going to talk about why this
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  particular orca is found doing this twice and
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  for so long on this episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast. Let's
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  start the show. Hey
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  everybody, welcome to a somber episode of the How to
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  Protect the Ocean podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Lewin. This is the podcast where you find out
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  what's happening with the ocean, how you can speak up for the ocean, what you can do to live
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  for a better ocean by taking action. And on today's episode,
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  we're going to be talking about the death of J61. Not
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  a very enlightening episode, not a hopeful episode, but
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  one of cautionary tale to say, hey, you
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  know what? these orca pop this or southern resident orca population
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  is in trouble. We're going to talk about why it's in trouble. We're
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  talking about why it's so fragile and why these calves continue
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  to die. There's only a 20% success rate in their
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  survival a lot to cover today. But before we do, I just want to
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  remind people if this is your first time here. I know it's the beginning of 2025. This
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  is the first time here you're wondering what you can do to find out how
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  to protect the ocean, what you can do more to protect the ocean. Just stay tuned
• 2:00
  to this podcast. If you want to find out more episodes and
• 2:03
  you want to, and you don't want to just look on your podcast app, you can go to our website at
• 2:07
  speakupforblue.com. That's speakupforblue.com, all
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  one word. And you can find out all of our shows. You can find
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  out also shows of our other podcasts, the Beyond Jaws podcast, as
• 2:18
  well as others like Aquadox. and the Fancy Scientist wildlife
• 2:21
  podcast. You'll be able to find a lot of information on there. All you have to do is go to
• 2:24
  speakupforblue.com. And if you want to join a community, I
• 2:28
  am putting a community together, and it's going to come very
• 2:31
  shortly. A new project that I'm working on is going to be launched at the end of this month.
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  So if you want to do that, all you have to do is go to speakupforblue.com forward
• 2:39
  slash community. That's speakupforblue.com forward
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  slash community. There's going to be a link in the description below. So look
• 2:46
  for that, click on it, put in your email, and you'll be added to that list.
• 2:50
  And when we release and launch the community, you'll
• 2:53
  be able to be a part of it, one of the first ones. So join that community, speakupforblue.com forward
• 2:58
  slash community. Because it's a community that is going to be required to
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  protect not only these orcas, but the ocean, and
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  we're gonna help you do that. So unfortunately, the recurrence of
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  this tragic event has prompted the reflection within the
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  scientific community. Dr. Michael Weiss, Research
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  Director of the Center of Whale Research, noted that while it's
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  not uncommon for orcas to carry their dead calves, the
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  duration observed in J35's case is
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  exceptional. So it's a little bit unique. Michael Weiss stated, it's
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  interesting that it's the same whale doing the same behavior again.
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  It seems to suggest that there's something about her as an individual that
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  makes this behavior more prominent. So the southern resident
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  orca population faces multiple threats. The primary prey
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  Chinook salmon is really, really low. Exposure to
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  pollutants and disturbances from vessel noises also affect their
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  population. These factors contribute to a high calf mortality, with
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  studies indicating that only 20% of orca calves survive their
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  first year. I want you to think about this for a little bit. We have orcas
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  that are a long-lived species. They live in the wild. They can live for
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  like 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, even 80 years old. They're a very long-lived species.
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  It takes a while to get to sexual maturity. And for this population to
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  continue to thrive, they have to be reproducing one,
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  two, three, maybe even four calves a year. But if their population
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  is only allowing 20% of these calves to survive to
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  adulthood or pass even the first year, not necessarily to adulthood, then
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  we are in trouble. Because eventually, this population, which
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  stands at about 73 individuals, the older ones
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  are going to start to pass away. And with all the disturbances that
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  are happening, the noise, the lack of Chinook salmon, pollutants
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  in the ocean, plastic pollution in the ocean, and
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  climate change, of course, they're at risk of getting
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  even, you know, even lower in numbers. So obviously this
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  is something that we need to do and we need to take action. So conservation organizations
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  emphasize the need for urgent action and the Center
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  of Whale Research advocates for salmon habitat restoration, removal
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  of dams that impede salmon migration. We got to get that Chinook
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  salmon population up. This is what helps. sustainable fisheries management to
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  ensure an adequate food supply for these orcas
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  they assert every single birth every single
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  birth counts and these whales need enough fish to
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  be able to support themselves and their calves they are large
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  individuals even as calves are large individuals but they grow to be even larger
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  they grow to be 65 feet long, maybe even bigger
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  at times, they have to be able to feed. They have to be
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  able to eat. And if this southern resident orca population
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  only eats Chinook salmon, they need their Chinook salmon. They need
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  lots of it. So they can't handle when Chinook salmon come
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  back, and they come back 15 million individuals
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  less than what they left, or what they were proposed to come back as,
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  or predicted to come back as, which has happened in the past. Food
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  scarcity is a problem. It's not allowing them
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  to grow and to be healthy. They need the fatty acids,
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  they need the protein, they need everything they can to get from
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  this Chinook salmon. They're not like the transient orca population where
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  they can have sharks or whales or other fish or whales
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  or marine mammals of that sort, seals and so forth. They're not like
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  that. They need Chinook salmon. So they're very, very specific in
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  their diet. In addition to food scarcity, chemical contamination
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  poses a significant risk. Orcas are among the most
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  contaminated marine mammals due to bioaccumulation of toxins
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  like PCBs and DDT, which can impair reproductive
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  and immune function. So there could be a reason why You
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  know, these orca calves are not surviving past the first
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  year. It could just be that they don't really have a chance once they're born because
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  of the amount of chemicals, the amount of PCBs, the amount of DTDs
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  that are in their system when they're born. Addressing pollution
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  sources is crucial for their survival. So this loss
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  of J61 is a stark reminder of the fragility of
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  this southern resident orca population. However, there is
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  a glimmer of hope. Another calf, J62, has
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  been born in the J pod, and it appears to be doing
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  quite well. We're gonna cross our fingers on that, knock on wood, knock
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  on everything. The mother and sex of the calf are yet to be identified, but
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  its birth offers a beacon of optimism amidst the
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  challenges. Even though there's still a small chance that this
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  orca calf will live past the first year, it looks like it's doing pretty well.
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  And hopefully this jaypod can grow by
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  this other calf, just by one. Even if they grow by one, it
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  helps. Now you gotta remember, this is a long-lived species, so hopefully it's a
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  female. so that it has some reproductive ability later on, and
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  it could birth a number of different individuals. But
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  as we reflect on J35's story, it's imperative to recognize the
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  broader implications for marine conservation. Protecting
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  the ocean requires a multifaceted approach. You can't just go out
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  protecting one species. Addressing issues from habitat restoration
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  to pollution control is extremely important. By supporting
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  conservation initiatives and advocating for sustainable practices, each
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  of us can contribute to the preservation of these majestic
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  creatures and health of our ocean. I can't tell you
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  enough how hard and how complex it is to protect the
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  ocean. I say this every episode. It's not an easy thing. You can't
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  just go out and protect these wonderful species.
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  It's not just that easy. They're in danger. They're already protected. There's
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  no need to further protect just that species. You
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  have to address the pollution. You have to address the
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  changes in their environment from climate change to ocean noise.
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  With climate change brings more ocean noise, believe it or not. There's
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  more shipping going on. There's shipping going on north of Canada through
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  the Northwest Passage, but there's also increased shipping along
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  the West Coast where these orca resident populations are. They
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  are vulnerable, and we need to protect them. They are an apex predator.
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  They are very smart. We can learn a lot from them. We still don't know very
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  much about these species. We still don't know very much
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  about this species. We still have so much more
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  to learn. And what comes with learning about
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  them could help us in the future as humans. They're very similar
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  to us. And there's strong cultural connections to indigenous populations within
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  the area, within Puget Sound, right within the BC coastline. This
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  is very important for the people who have a cultural tie to
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  the species. In some indigenous populations, their ancestral
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  souls will go into orcas, and they're believed to
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  become orca populations. Very similar to Avatar 2, where
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  they cover that. where the souls of the indigenous people within,
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  like the water people within that movie, went to the whale
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  population of whatever they called those whales. I forget what they called those
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  whales. And so a death of those whales meant a death of
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  one of their ancestors. And that deep connection was
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  lost. And that obviously isn't good. Not
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  only from a cultural perspective, but also from a biological and ecological perspective.
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  So protecting these species requires not only do we protect the
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  species themselves and observe them and find out what we can, but we also
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  have to protect what's around that. We have to protect the water. That
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  means controlling what goes into the water and keeping certain harmful
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  things out. There are ports along that coastline that are not
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  only in the U.S. but in Canada, very important ports, all
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  up and down that coastline. And there are chemicals that
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  come out of that. There are spills that happen, oil spills. There are
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  spills from whatever's being shipped. There's potential non-point
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  sources and point sources. So point sources are where we know what's coming out
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  or a pipeline of some sort of what's going in. So it
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  could be wastewater, it could be anything, right? Sewage water, it doesn't matter.
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  We know that it's coming at a specific point. It's at a pipe or
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  something like that, but it's at a specific point. Non-point sources is where
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  we just can't track where they're actually coming from. But we have to take water
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  samples all up and down the coast to find out where these contaminants are coming from.
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  Now, we have to look at the prey. Bioaccumulation in
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  orcas happens because they're eating
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  so many fish. So bioaccumulation is happening in the fish. So
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  it's going all the way down the food web. And when it comes up the food web, it
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  accumulates in each of the bodies. So as the bodies get bigger and bigger, they eat more
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  and more prey that are contaminated. they get that contamination
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  goes into the tissues and when it gets up to the orcas, then that's how they
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  start to deteriorate. They're not as healthy and they're not as fit
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  to not only give birth but also to nurse a newborn, a
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  newborn calf in this situation. I'm not blaming J35 for
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  anything, right? She is just a product of her environment. But
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  that could be one of the reasons, we don't know for sure, but that could be one of the reasons why
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  J61 passed away. but there is new hope and they're going to be
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  looking at J62 to be that new hope. Hopefully J62
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  survives. In the meantime we are observing J35 mourning
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  the loss of her young, her second, now
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  called J61 and she's going to be carrying this around for
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  a few weeks and she's going to be showing the world that hey
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  you know what there's something wrong here and my calf has
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  died because of it. We are doing something wrong. Now there's a lot of
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  people out on social media who are looking at
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  different aspects of what is happening
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  here, the significance of the mourning process. Scientists
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  are looking at this as a mourning process. It's very unique to
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  J35 in this situation that we know of, where she floats
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  the calf for more than two to three weeks. but
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  you know it's a process and some people are looking into it they're anthropomorphizing it
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  they're making it seem like it's more of human abilities or
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  human characteristics that you know they're mourning this process we don't know
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  exactly why they do it we assume that they're mourning the process the
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  songs that are coming out the noises that are coming out of the orcas seem like it's
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  a somber sort of it's a somber conversation that's that's happening
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  but and this is how they get over it they're extremely sensitive species and
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  they definitely have that emotional intelligence but we can't look too
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  far into it and we can't get too down in what we see happening
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  right now there are ways that you can mourn there are ways that you can help
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  and i'll put some of the conservation organizations especially the organizations
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  that I've mentioned in here, which is the Orca
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  Whale Research, I believe. What's it called? Sorry, the Center of
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  Whale Research. And we will find out how you can donate to
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  support this organization in observing not only the southern resident
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  orca population, but other orca populations in the region. to make
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  sure that they're doing well as well. You got to remember these orca
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  populations for the southern residents have had a really traumatizing
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  past number of decades. Going back to the 1970s where
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  many of them were taken, many of them died in the process of being
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  taken for marine theme parks and they still haven't been
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  put back. A lot of them have died in that process. The big
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  loss was when they took about 50 individuals from
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  that population. Now there's only 73 left. They've had a really tough
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  time recuperating because of the lack of prey, there's ways
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  to get around that, there's ways to increase the Chinook population, and
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  that is to tear down dams, that is to make sure that
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  pollution is in better control, and that comes to government,
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  that comes putting pressure on government to make better policies. and
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  make sure they follow the policies that they have already. So that's a big thing
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  that we need to find out when you hear these stories. It's not
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  only that you feel sad for these orcas, but there's action to
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  be taken, and there's action that you can go through organizations like
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  the Center for Whale Research, but also other nonprofit organizations local
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  to the area that have a really good beat on
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  what's happening in that area, what's happening with the policy. They can inform
• 14:43
  you better, and they can show you where you can put your action into use.
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  check those out in the links below. That's it for the episode today. Sorry to
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  start off the week with such a bad episode in terms of topic wise, but
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  I feel like it's something that we need to discuss. It's something that needs to be addressed.
• 14:57
  It's being covered all over the place. And what I, again, what I don't want
• 15:00
  people to do is just to look at this and be like, oh man, these orca species, they're
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  done for. They're not done for. We can save them. We need to save
• 15:07
  them. And you can help by starting by looking at these organizations,
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  finding out more, and just, you know, you already started by looking
• 15:14
  at this video and listening. and showing that you can take
• 15:18
  action and then that's what's necessary on these on these types
• 15:21
  of topics so check that out in the link below if you want to
• 15:25
  find out more about not only the orca the southern resident orca
• 15:28
  population but anything regarding the ocean Make sure
• 15:31
  you subscribe to this YouTube channel or the Spotify channel,
• 15:35
  or if you're listening to this on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
• 15:39
  or any of the other favorite podcast apps, please follow, subscribe, and
• 15:43
  hit that notification bell where you can so you don't miss an episode. And
• 15:47
  of course, you can always get in touch with me at HowToProtectTheOcean on
• 15:50
  Instagram, that's at HowToProtectTheOcean. I want to thank you so much for
• 15:54
  listening to this episode of the How To Protect The Ocean podcast. I'm your host, Andrew