Bereaved mother orca finally drops calf after carrying corpse for unprecedented 17 days

A grieving orca whale who carried the corpse of her dead calf for an unprecedented 17 days has finally let it go.The killer whale, known as J35 to scientists monitoring the population in the Pacific Northwest, was spotted swimming without the infant balanced on her head for the first time since July.“J35 frolicked past my window today with other J pod whales, and she looks vigorous and healthy,” Ken Balcomb, of the Centre for Whale Research, told The Seattle Times.