Following recent media publicity over the death of the female calf born to one of the Southern Resident orca population, Tahlequah (J35), DFE member Viivi Senghore has written a heartfelt article on the mother/calf bond and how grief impacts cetacean mothers, both in the wild and in captivity.
‘We all know that the bond between a large-brained mammal mother and her child is one of the strongest ones there is. The recent news of a southern resident killer whale in The Pacific North West, Tahlequah also known as J35, and her dead calf has shown how a whale mourns a lost loved one. In my opinion, she has also shown us how destructive the captivity industry is to small cetaceans. A dolphin in captivity is forced to mourn her young far more frequently than in the wild. A life in captivity for a particular bottlenose dolphin called Veera is just one among countless heart-breaking stories.’
Full article here
Can we now finally wake up and see that we are not alone.docx