A photo of J50 taken south of San Juan Island (NOAA)
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says ailing orca J50 is still not doing well.
The American agency reports that on Friday her body condition was not improving, and that “scarlet” is lagging behind her family group at times.
Researchers caught up to her south of San Juan Island and were not successful in providing a dose of dewormer on Friday or Saturday — they are hoping for favorable conditions Sunday.
J50 has been spotted Sunday again near San Juan Island.
On Thursday, NOAA posted an update that said biologists had the results of fecal and breath samples they had collected from J Pod to diagnose J50’s condition — and detected parasites.
The Vancouver Aquarium’s head veterinarian Martin Haulena was able to dart the sickly whale with an antibiotic on Monday.
Since Aug. 2 experts have been working to examine and help J50, after they noticed she appeared emaciated.
The indentation on her head, known as “peanut head,” is a sign of malnutrition, at four years old shes about the size of a one-year old and a recent health assessment showed she has some sort of infection.
On Aug. 9. for the first time they successfully delivered antibiotics via a dart to treat the killer whale in the wild.
Another historic first was on Aug. 12 after they attempted to feed J50 by dropping salmon filled with medication through a tube in front of her.
READ MORE: Sick orca J50 determined to have parasitic worms.
Julian Kolsut
