Heartbreaking: Orca calf refuses to leave bay where its mother drowned in shallow water

A heartbreaking sound echoes in a bay in Canada. A killer whale calf mourns for its mother who died when she accidentally beached herself and drowned at high tide. Experts, volunteers and the local community of Nuu-chah-nulth and Zeballos try to lure the small animal to the open sea, but the orca refuses to leave its mother’s side. After consultation, it was decided to let the marine mammal mourn and then try again.

The 14-year-old orca swam into the lagoon on Vancouver’s west coast with her two-year-old calf, but got into trouble, possibly due to a mistimed attack. The mother – who was pregnant again – was trapped and drowned when the water rose. Since then, the calf has been circling aimlessly, while its lamentation pierces through its bones. Orcas live in groups in the wild and calves always stay with their mother in normal circumstances. So it is feared that the little orca will remain with its mother’s body.

Biologists, scientists, volunteers and First Nations members (The Indigenous Peoples of Canada, ed.) have now joined forces to save the animal. They spent days trying to lure the animal out of the bay and back to open water where its other relatives still swim around. But to no avail: the calf refuses to leave the bay. So it has now been decided to leave the animal alone for a while and try again later.

“Whales are connected to their families for the rest of their lives,” it said. “We can’t imagine what the calf is going through, it may not understand why its mother no longer moves or cares for it. It may feel just as we would feel in such a situation.” According to the experts, the young animal is still in good health, but must be returned to the open sea as soon as possible. The rescue team would rather not feed him, so that he does not become independent of people.