Baby orca dies in New Zealand after fruitless search for mother

[Still Waters]

Toa, the baby orca who captured hearts after he was found stranded in New Zealand waters, has lost his fight for survival, conservationists confirmed Saturday.

The killer whale, less than 2.5 metres (eight feet) long and believed to be four to six months old, became front-page news when he washed ashore near the capital Wellington after becoming separated from his pod nearly two weeks ago.

He was unweaned, and hundreds of people volunteered to assist with round-the-clock care as he was unable to survive alone in the ocean.

Conservationists, who named the orca Toa—Maori for "warrior"—housed him in a makeshift pen at the seaside suburb of Plimmerton, where he was fed via a special teat every four hours while an air and sea search was mounted to find his mother.

https://phys.org/news/2021-07-baby-orca-dies-zealand-fruitless.html

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Race to find beached baby orca's mother in New Zealand

https://phys.org/news/2021-07-beached-baby-orca-mother-zealand.html