New Delhi: A female orca, also called as a killer whale, who had been apparently grieving about her dead calf and swimming with its body after more than two weeks, has finally abandoned its child's body.
The whale had lost its child on July 24, shortly after its birth. Scientists, who were observing the animal, said it did not abandon the body for almost 17 days during which she covered 1,000 miles. "Her tour of grief is now over and her behaviour is remarkably frisky," the Center for Whale Research said, as quoted by the BBC.
The adult whale mammal was last seen with the corpse on Thursday afternoon, 17 days after the little whale died. As per a report, the baby whale died only hours after its birth.
The report added that the mother, preventing the body of its child from sinking to the ocean floor, has been carrying it and nudging it toward the surface of the Pacific off the coast of Canada and the northwestern US.
Michael Milstein of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's West Coast Region said its heart wrenching to see the whale mother carrying the dead body of its child. "This kind of behaviour is like a period of mourning and has been seen before. What's extraordinary about this is the length of time," he was quoted as saying by CNN.
According to scientists, grieving is common among mammals such as whales, dolphins, elephants and deer. However, mother whales usually swim her dead calf for less than a week.
Evidence says that orca brain is large and highly developed in areas dealing with emotions, said Lori Marino, president of the Whale Sanctuary Project.
