At the end of July, we shared the news that Tahlequah, the grieving orca, was pregnant once more. Now, thanks to satellite images, we know she has successfully given birth to a health calf.
The southern resident killer whale first came into the news back in 2018 when she carried her dead calf for 17 days in a “heart-wrenching display of mourning.” Scientists have been tracking the orca via satellite ever since and discovered just over a month ago that she was pregnant once more.
Then, on Saturday, the new calf was spotted swimming alongside its mother in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which runs along the western coastline of Canada and the US. Counting the addition of the new calf, there are now believed to be 73 southern resident killer whales who live in three different pods.
