Vets race to save young emaciated orca spotted swimming with the same pod of killer whales that a grieving mother who is carrying her dead baby is a part of
- Young orca, known as J50, is emaciated and possibly suffering from an infection
- Vets are poised to inject it with antibiotics and feed it in an attempt to save it
- But whale has not been seen in several days amid fears it has already perished
- Youngster and its mother are swimming in the same pod as Tahlequah, the grieving whale who has been carrying her calf’s body around for two weeks
Vets are preparing to try and save an emaciated and possibly infected young orca swimming in the same critically endangered pod as the mother who is carrying her dead calf.
The female three-and-a-half-year-old whale, known as J50, is also swimming with its mother but the pair haven’t been seen in several days, raising fears for their safety.
If and when the pair next emerge, medics plan to feed the youngster live salmon and administer antibiotics using either a dart or a syringe on a long pole.
Vets are preparing to try and save an emaciated and possibly infected baby orca known as J50 (pictured in this 2015 file image with mother J16). The pair are part of the same pod as Tahlequah, the mother who has been carrying her dead calf for 17 days
Medics haven’t seen the whale since Tuesday (pictured) and fear it may have already died, but if they can find it again they will attempt to inject it with antibiotics before feeding it salmon
The mother, known as J16, was last seen with the infant on Tuesday, when the youngster appeared badly underweight.
The calf was the first in three years to be born to the dwindling population of endangered southern resident killer whales.
‘It is very possible that she has succumbed at this point and that we may never see her again,’ Teri Rowles, marine mammal health and stranding coordinator for NOAA Fisheries, said.
‘We are hopeful that there’s still a chance that we will be able to assist her with medical treatment to give her enough time to get nourishment and treat infections, if indeed that is what is causing her decline.’
The orcas are part of an endangered population that has dwindled to just 75 whales.
Another female orca from the group – known Tahlequah or J35 – has attracted international attention after her calf died.
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She has been swimming around with the dead infant balanced on her nose for 17 days in a heartbreaking display of grief.
Vets monitoring J50 will decide when the calf next emerges whether or not to treat using antibiotics, preferring a dart or injection over food because the medicine will keep working for between 10 and 14 days.
Feeding the youngster medicine would require daily or almost daily contact, which they are not sure they will get.
Veterinarians in the field will decide whether to give the ailing orca antibiotics, which would last between 10 and 14 days, using either a dart injector or a long pole syringe.
If things go well, Rowles said, the team could move ahead with feeding the orca live salmon from a boat.
The whale would initially get just a few fish to see whether she takes it and how she and members of her pod respond before deciding whether to give her salmon dosed with medication.
Tahlequah’s calf perished on July 24 and the 20-year-old mother is still carrying its dead body around 17 days later in a heartbreaking display of grief
Observers are also concerned for Tahlequah’s health because she has now fallen behind the pod while carrying her child, meaning she could starve as she struggles to hunt alone
Rowles said injections of antibiotics or sedatives have been given to other free-swimming whales or dolphins that were injured or entangled but it hasn’t been done for free-swimming whales in this area.
What would be unique is giving the orca medication through live fish, Rowles said.
Whale experts have been increasingly worried about J50 after a researcher last month noticed an odor on the orca’s breath, a smell detected on other orcas that later died.
Researchers took breath samples, and a drone flown above the whales Wednesday showed that J50 is much skinnier and her body condition has gotten worse.
Rowles said such imagery has shed more light on the whales’ overall body condition and growth over time. That data has documented orcas that declined and then disappeared.
She said it became evident that ‘we needed to intervene to determine potentially what was the cause and whether there was anything we could do to assist her.’
The efforts come as a task force called by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee met Tuesday to come up with solutions to help the whales.
It was hearing initial recommendations focused on three main threats to the orcas: lack of food, toxic contamination and boat noise and disturbance.
A final report is due in November.
The recent images of the mother orca pushing her dead calf and trying to keep it afloat in Northwest waters has given greater urgency to the fate of the whales, said Les Purce, co-chair of the task force.
‘The big question is, can we craft public policy that can make a difference in the future of the orca, and by doing so make a positive difference in how we live in Puget Sound,’ Purce said in an interview Monday.
The group will prioritize short-term and long-term actions, many of which are certain to focus on recovering the prized salmon that the fish-eating whales like to eat.
The whales prefer Chinook salmon but many of those runs are endangered or threatened.
Initial actions being discussed include ramping up hatchery production, restricting fishing in areas that are important to the orcas, offering financial compensation to recreational and commercial fishermen to stop or reduce fishing in certain areas and killing sea lions or birds that eat certain runs.
A map showing where Tahlequah’s calf was last seen alive, and the first two sightings of the whale pushing its body around
Others are pushing to tear down four dams on the lower Snake River.
Tahlequah’s calf died on July 24 and the 20-year-old mother has been pushing its body around with her ever since.
Scientists say the animal has now fallen behind her pod and is at risk of becoming isolated.
Orcas are highly sociable and live in large groups, known as pods, often with dozens of other animals.
They hunt in these groups, and animals that become isolated can suffer a potentially life-threatening food shortage, experts warn.
Until now, scientists had never seen an orca grieve for this long over a dead infant.
Scientists believe the rest of the pod likely knew Tahlequah was pregnant by communicating through sonar and are probably in mourning as well.
In June, researchers revealed that it was not uncommon for whales and dolphins to keep holding onto their dead offspring for days at a time.
Experts from the Dolphin Biology and Conservation at Oceancare in Cordenons, Italy, analysed 78 records of aquatic mammals’ treatment of their dead between 1970 and 2016.
More than 90 per cent of the dolphins studied were attentive to their dead, with grieving females making up three quarters of these interactions.
Seventy five per cent of the incidents were of adult females looking after their dead calf, with some of them carrying decomposing bodies for up to a week.
The behaviour often involved one or more individuals attending to the deceased.
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