(CNN)- A grieving mother orca carried the body of her dead, newborn calf for days as she swam with her pod near Victoria, Canada.
The Center for Whale Research, which tracks whale population in the pacific, captured images of the heartbreaking ordeal.
The calf was born on July 24 and died within hours.
As it began to sink, the mother orca continued pushing it up keeping it afloat for days.
According to the Sidney Morning Herald, she was still carrying it on Monday afternoon.
The research center's founder believes she continued carrying it as part of the grieving process.
The Center for Whale Research says approximately 75-percent of newborns in the recent two decades following designation of the 'Southern Resident killer whale' population as "endangered" have not survived, and 100 percent of the pregnancies in the past three years have failed to produce viable offspring.
The Department of Commerce, NOAA Fisheries, has designated the 'Southern Resident killer whale' population as a "Species in the Spotlight" due to its imminent threat of extinction.
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