Killer whale moms are still supporting their adult sons — and it's costing them
Orca moms spent precious resources feeding their fully grown adult male offspring. A new study finds that this may limit how many more young they produce.
Twenty years ago, in the waters off the coast of Washington State and British Columbia, an adult female killer whale (dubbed K16 by those who know her well) gave birth to a son, K35.
"These two have an extremely close social relationship," says Michael Weiss, the research director at the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Washington.
It's hard for Weiss to think of a time when he
