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SEATTLE – Update of September 13th:
NOAA fisheries officials said Thursday that a 3-year-old J50 orca has not been seen for several days under favorable conditions.
Officials stated that there had been comments from his group and his family group, including his mother, J16.
J50, also known as Scarlet, was born in December 2014.
NOAA Fisheries and partners have explored ways to provide medical treatment to help Scarlet.
The responders gave Scarlet antibiotics and, more recently, they envisioned a plan to capture her and remove her from the wild if she was clearly separated from her family.
Watch the news of KIRO 7 on the air at 5pm today for the latest updates on J50.
History of September 12:
NOAA plans to capture a critically ill killer calf because unprecedented efforts to save it in the wild are not working.
The latest images of J50, also known as Scarlet, show that his health is not improving despite a second round of antibiotics that he was given last week.
Now, NOAA plans to take a step forward by eventually capturing and treating the sick calf, with the ultimate goal of bringing it back to the family.
"I appreciate that everyone wants to ease the suffering of this whale. Nobody wants to see a whale suffer. However, the situation is very different from that of Springer, "said Donna Sandstrom, founder of the Whale Trail.
Sandstrom worked closely with Springer's rescue in 2002.
Like J50, Springer was sick. But the northern resident, also known as A73, had become orphaned when NOAA intervened, removed her from the wild and successfully reintegrated with her family. She is now in full swing with two babies.
Although Sandstrom supported Springer's intervention, she now asks NOAA to step back with J50.
"Let's improve the whole population rather than trying to save them one by one," added Sandstrom. "It's also what concerns me. Is this a precedent? Whenever there is a sick or sick whale, are we going to do this exercise?
NOAA has stated that it simply wants to protect the reproductive potential of J50, which is critical since the southern resident population in decline has dropped to only 75.
Officials said that they would only capture J50 once she was separated from her family or blocked.
"What exactly is the definition of grounding?" Asked Michael Harris, the former head of the Pacific Whale Watch Association. "What exactly is the definition of being separated from the pod?"
Harris said the details needed to be resolved, but he supports NOAA's plan to save J50, which he sees as a symbol of hope for a possible recovery of the population.
"If we are going to do a human and superhuman intervention to save this population, and if symbolism is part of it, trying to build a global constituency, why not J50? Why not the little whale? Let's do it, Harris added.
NOAA holds two public meetings:
- Saturday, September 15 at 7 pm Friday Harbor at Friday Harbor High School
- Sunday September 16th at 1 pm in Seattle at the University of Washington, Haggett Hall Waterfall Hall
More news from KIRO 7:
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