NOAA will hold public meetings on J50 Orca as its condition remains serious

FRIDAY PORT, Wash. – NOAA is about to hold two public meetings to hear your point of view on how it should try to continue to starve Orca J50 alive.

According to scientists, its survival is important as an active member of the killer whale population, especially the J-pod.

"The public has an interest in the J50 response and recovery of southern resident killer whales and we understand that many people are concerned," NOAA officials said on fisheries. "We want to know what people in the region are thinking about this effort and these potential steps to hold two public meetings in Washington State to hear the public's views."

The first meeting will take place on Saturday, September 15th at 7pm. in the port Friday at Friday Harbor High School. The second will be Sunday at 13 hours. at the Haggett Hall Waterfall Hall of the University of Washington in Seattle.

"The state of J50 has decreased in recent months to the point where she is emaciated and often behind her family," officials said. "The field treatment has not improved its condition and veterinarians believe that they have exhausted all reasonable remote treatment options and that their survival is unlikely."

Their next options could include a rescue operation and a hands-on physical examination, or being taken to a short-term rehabilitation facility to improve their chances of survival and return to their group.

Officials insist that no rescue operation would be attempted as long as J50 is with his gondola; they would only intervene if J50 separates or becomes stranded on a beach and the risks to the rest of the pod are minimized.

"If veterinarians and other experts who evaluate J50 in the field determine that she can not be healed or rehabilitated, the teams will quickly bring her back to J Pod to spend the rest of her life with her family," said responsible for NOAA. "Our basic premise in response planning is that J50 remains wild where it can contribute to the long-term recovery of the southern resident population of killer whales, particularly juvenile pods."

The deterioration of J50 health has been a primary concern for veterinarians on both sides of the Canada-US border after being found emaciated and sometimes having trouble keeping up with his pod. Officials believe that she is suffering from parasitic infections and that attempts to treat them with remote antibiotic injections have not improved her condition.