3-26-2019
FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash. (AP) — Several months after researchers feared the worst for a sick Puget Sound orca, the whale known as J17 was recently spotted in better conditions.
KING 5 reports the Center for Whale Research observed the 42-year-old orca swimming in the Haro Strait (east of Vancouver Island) on Friday and she seemed healthier than earlier this year when she appeared to be starving.
However, the team said her breath smelled awful and that they remain cautiously optimistic that she will survive.
A calf that was seen at the beginning of the year is also believed to still be alive.
