What else can they possible be doing and feeling? (Kelley Balcomb-Bartok) Anthropologist Barbara … She’s a member of our resident fish-eating orca pods that are under great nutritional stress from lack of salmon, but still, according to data collected by The Whale Museum's Sound Watch program, she has carried her dead calf at least 250 miles since its death based on estimates from Soundwatch observation. An orca whale that carried her dead calf more than two weeks has let go of the body, ending her "tour of grief," researchers said. Even though J35 is grieving and mourning her dead calf, the researchers said it’s a positive sign that the whale is still swimming which is a sign of good health. J35 is certainly expending energy. The whale, known as Tahlequah or J35, is one of just 75 Southern Resident killer whales left in the ocean, and her calf — which died minutes after it was born last month — was the … An orca named J35 has finally dropped her dead calf, which she'd been pushing with her head for at least 17 days and 1,000 miles off the Pacific Northwest coast, in … Orca mother, J35, balancing her dead baby on her nose trying to keep it afloat on July 25, 2018. The female killer whale was … I agree with Dr. King, and feel very comfortable saying something like, "Make no mistake, orca Mom J-35 and pod mates are grieving."