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A hungry orca that biologists had hoped to save was declared dead only 24 hours after the plans were announced.
Efforts to find the sick young creature – from a critically endangered population of killer whales in the Pacific Northwest – came empty-handed.
Known as the J50, the desperately sick pet had not been seen since last Friday.
The sad news leaves only 74 whales in a group that has failed to reproduce in the last three years.
Orcas fought against pollution, boat noise and, more importantly, the shortage of their favorite prey, chinook salmon, because of dams, habitat loss and overfishing.
"We're watching an endangered population," said Ken Balcomb of the Whale Research Center.
"Unless we do something for salmon recovery, we're just not going to have these whales in the future."
The whales are in such a state that experts have gone to great lengths to save the emaciated four-year-old.
A gun veterinarian has launched a dart filled with antibiotics to no avail, and scientists have even thought about capturing it so that they can treat it against parasitic worms.
As the teams scrambled to meet her on Thursday, she was unable to appear with her pod, despite favorable observation conditions.
Mr. Balcomb, who tracks whales on behalf of the US government, declared her dead late yesterday afternoon – although the authorities said they would continue to search.
Michael Milstein, a spokesman for NOAA Fisheries, said the agency attached great importance to Mr. Balcomb's assessment of whales, given his long experience in monitoring them.
But, he said, because the American and Canadian governments have so many resources to find it, they plan to continue their research today.
"We want to take the opportunity to make sure that if J50 is there, we do not miss it," said Milstein. "We have not lost hope."
We are saddened to announce that J50 is missing and now presumed dead.
The Whale Research Center has had a ship on the water looking for J50 in the last three days. We saw all the other members of his family (that is the J16) during these outings.https: //t.co/0jhbXDZBko pic.twitter.com/BMh7I6Xtg3
Crews from a US Coast Guard helicopter, ten ships, whale watching crews and other resources on both sides of the border participated in the search.
The authorities have also alerted a network of people who react when marine mammals wash themselves on the ground.
Whale experts feared that the killer died earlier this month when J50 was falling behind her family and disappeared, but she later found herself with her family.
The distinctive black and white orcas, known as southern resident killer whales, have experienced difficulties since they were listed as Endangered in the United States and Canada over ten years ago. years.
The number of killer whales is now at its lowest for more than three decades.
Another whale in the same group, known as the J35, sparked international sympathy this summer when she kept her dead calf's body afloat for more than two weeks.
The message, says Cente for Whale Research in an article published on its website, is that "extinction is looming" as humans organize workgroups and conference calls that generate nothing or worse than nothing. .
The scientist began to worry about J50 in July.
The teams dropped live salmon on a boat while J50 and its pod swam behind – a test to see if the fish could be used to administer drugs.
The images of drones taken earlier this month showed that J50 was much thinner than last year.
His mother, J16, also declined last month.
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