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- [Narrator] The Orcinus orca

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has a recorded lifespan

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of up to nearly a century.

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These apex predators,

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technically members of the dolphin family,

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are sometimes called killer whales.

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But there is more to them

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than their aquatic dominance.

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Their brains are among
the largest on the Earth.

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And they are renowned

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for their sense of play, curiosity,

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and intricate social structures

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that last a lifetime.

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While we are only beginning

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to understand the nuances

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of how they socialize,

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what we do recognize

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is how powerful a bond exists

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between mother and child.

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July 24th, 2018.

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J35, also known as Tahlequah,

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swims in the waters

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by Vancouver, British Columbia

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and Seattle, Washington

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comprising the Salish Sea.

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In the company of her fellow

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southern resident orcas,

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she has just given birth to a female calf.

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Having delivered a healthy male

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eight years ago,

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this offspring comes after roughly

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seventeen months of pregnancy.

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This opportunity for the pod

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to grow once more

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follows three consecutive
years of pregnancies

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failing to survive to term.

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For this endangered species,

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these losses come as little surprise,

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given the many threats
southern residents face

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as the planet's most urban orcas.

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While the pod might experience this birth

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as a triumph against continuing adversity,

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their celebration will be temporary.

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We do not know for certain

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what caused this newborn's death.

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Unwilling to surrender her child

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to the depths of the sea,

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her mother does the only thing she can.

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This ritual of mourning

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is not unheard of among

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newly bereaved orcas.

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In doing this,

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perhaps Tahlequah is expressing

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a kind of denial,

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hoping against hope that her
daughter take breath once more.

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Whatever her true intentions,

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she simply cannot let her go.

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Forgoing sleep and adequate
nourishment for days,

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she refuses to relent.

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Losing strength as she travels dozens,

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and then, hundreds, of miles,

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an entire week passes.

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The support of her pod,

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which monitors her from afar

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and sometimes intervenes,

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can little alleviate her burden.

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Soon, it has been 10 days.

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And then, two weeks.

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Exhausted, hungry,

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and at risk of serious injury,

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it would seem that her
life has come to this:

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a dance of grief.

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Perhaps she does not want to live

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in a world without the child

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in whom she saw herself,

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on whom she pinned her hopes,

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to whom she now intends

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to give the last full measure

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of her aching love.

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After traveling over one thousand miles

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across seventeen days,

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on August 10th,

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in desperate need of food and rest,

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she releases her child's body

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back to the place from which it came.

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Only twenty years of age,

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Tahlequah may carry this broken heart

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for eighty more years.

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And as she wanders the
ocean she calls home,

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will she be haunted

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by all that could have been?

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Will she be crushed

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by the weight of her longing?

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Will her undying love

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ever be heard?

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But little does she know,

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her daughter's journey
has not reached its end.

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It will take several days for her body

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to find the sandy seabed.

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When it does,

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it is there that her final act begins.

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On her travels,

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Tahlequah could give up hope

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that her daughter's life amounted

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to anything more than pain and absence.

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But her grief cannot limit

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the scope of what is possible.

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One day, she is certain to encounter

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the spot she will never forget,

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and should she look down

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to the ocean floor below,

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she might just see...

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In 2020, Tahlequah,

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after rejoining the activities of her pod

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and regaining her strength,

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gave birth to a healthy son.

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His name is Phoenix.

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If he and future offspring survive,

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his family may be able to rise

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from the ashes of loss and endure.

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But since it is human activity

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that imperils them,

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their fate is in our hands.

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While the window to act
might one day slip away,

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it is not yet too late.

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And we have the power

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to not only protect our orca kin,

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we can even save

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ourselves.