It’s a boy! Orca gives birth off the Washington coast after losing calf in 2018

A grieving orca that carried her dead calf in the water for more than two weeks in 2018 gave birth again this month — and a photographer discovered it’s a boy.

The orca, identified as J35 and known as Tahlequah, gave birth to a new calf, J57 earlier this month, likely on Sept. 4, the Pacific Whale Watch Association said in a Wednesday news release. On Tuesday, a naturalist and photographer captured photographic evidence that Tahlequah’s new calf is a boy.

“Last night the whales were extremely social while actively foraging for salmon,” photographer Sara Hysong-Shimazu of Maya’s Legacy said in the news release. “Tahlequah (J35) and her calf J57 were accompanied closely by J42 and several other whales.”

Tahlequah and her calf breached several times, and Tahlequah roller her calf “up on her back, exposing his belly,” the Pacific Whale Watch Association said. Hysong-Shimazu was able to recognize that the new calf is a boy and captured photos.

“It was really touching to see how active and social they were together and to see J57 surfacing with both his mom and surrounded by others in the community,” Hysong-Shimazu said. “He certainly seemed spunky and energetic!”

In 2018, Tahlequah carried her dead baby on her head for 17 days, after giving birth to a calf that only lived for about 30 minutes.

This story was originally published September 23, 2020 at 8:55 PM with the headline "It’s a boy! Orca gives birth off the Washington coast after losing calf in 2018."