Mother Dolphin Carries Dead Baby On Her Back (Video)

PALOS VERDES, CA — A mother bottlenose dolphin carries her dead baby calf along the coast of Palos Verdes in a drone video.

Eric Martin, head aquarist for the Roundhouse Aquarium, captured the video. Martin describes how the mother had carried the dead baby for at least two days, Whittier Daily News reports.

In the video, the mother dolphin swims alongside members of her pod, mourning together. They ultimately swim to a sea kelp bed.

Martin described watching the dolphins together, describing the heartbreaking moment:

On May 13, some visitors to the Point Vicente Interpretive Center told the Gray Whale Census observers that they had seen "porpoises circling around a dead porpoise" off Palos Verdes. Census Director Alisa Schulman-Janiger headed to that location. When she looked over the cliff, she witnessed a coastal bottlenose dolphin slowly carrying the body of a newborn calf, accompanied by 4 other dolphin. This was most likely a mother grieving over the loss of her calf. I went down Friday evening to document this. I have heard about dolphins, orcas, or other whales grieving over the loss of a baby, but have never witnessed it. My video shows how she is carrying a little calf on the top of her head and taking it down underwater, and other members of her family pod with her. Surprising, the next day (Saturday, May 14) she was spotted again with the dead calf and two other adult dolphin, so I went up to Palos Verdes to document this with the assistance of a drone. I was able to photograph these incredible images in super clear water. So we know that she was carrying her dead calf with her for at least 2 days.

In August 2018, orca J35 (Tahlequah), a southern resident killer whale, suffered the loss of her newborn calf, and carried her dead calf with her for 17 days!

Watch the video below:

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