Footage captures mother dolphin carrying dead calf ‘during period of mourning’
A mother dolphin has been spotted carrying the dead body of her two-week-old calf during what experts have called “a period of mourning”.
In a video posted by Australian whale conservation organisation Geographe Marine Research, the mother dolphin – known to the organisation as Fraggle – was spotted in Leschenault Estuary, Western Australia, swimming amid a pod of dolphins.
Conservationists say Fraggle has already lost three other calves. Giving birth to a fourth during the southern hemisphere winter posed an immediate challenge to the calf’s survival, with conservationists believing it died from pneumonia.
“Witnessing a high respiratory rate in her calf recently, sadly we knew this day was coming … dolphins will carry their deceased calves during a period of mourning, which can last for many days,” said the organisation in an Instagram post.
“At some stage she must let go and feed to survive; that day is near.”
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