Caring for 'mama's boys' limits breeding by orca mothers, study finds

New research finds caring for weaned sons throughout the male offspring’s life diminishes a mother’s annual breeding success by about 50 per cent

And that’s not a good thing for the future of critically endangered southern resident killer whales, now down to 73 orcas in three pods, according to new research.­

But the mother continues to feed her sons into adulthood, and that longer care means fewer chances of successful breeding. Previous research has shown sons have a higher chance of survival if their mother is around, Weiss said, so scientists wanted to determine if that help comes at a price. “The answer is yes. Killer whale mothers pay a high cost in terms of their future reproduction to keep their sons alive.”Weiss said mothers ­surrendering the majority of their future reproduction to­ ­benefit their sons across their lifespan is unusual in nature and may even be unique.

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