VANCOUVER—J-50 in many ways represented hope for the future of the critically endangered southern resident killer whales in the Salish Sea.

But the young orca had grown severely emaciated throughout this past summer, and despite a desperate month-long rescue effort by a team of Canadian and American scientists, J-50 disappeared.

On Thursday evening, the Center for Whale Research, responsible for keeping official count of orcas in the waters off B.C. and Washington, declared the young whale was presumed dead. She has not been seen since last Friday, Sept. 7.

J-50, also known as Scarlet, was born during the Christmas holidays in 2014. Marine mammal veterinarian Joe Gaydos with the SeaDoc Society recalled seeing her mother near Westsound, Wash., on Christmas Eve.

“I was out on the water with her that morning. It was a sunny, beautiful day,” he said.

Gaydos, who lives nearby, remembers that encounter distinctly because it is unusual for orcas to hang out in that area. The next day, he learned that a baby had been born in Jpod.

J-50’s arrival marked the beginning of a string of births among the declining orcas, what researchers dubbed the “baby boom.” Jpod, in particular, had not had a birth since 2012. Eleven orcas in total were born between 2014 and 2016, giving whale enthusiasts hope the critically endangered population was rebounding.

Longtime whale researcher Ken Balcomb remembers seeing J-50 for the first time.

“There was a great deal of excitement with a brand new baby, and right away we found out it was a little girl,” said Balcomb, founder of the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbour, Wash.

Researchers hoped that one day she would have calves of her own and contribute to the critically endangered population of southern resident killer whales. There are now only 74 individuals left.

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Even though the odds were against her — J-50 had to be pulled out of her mother during birth with the help of a relative — her “spunky and tenacious” personality was evident from the beginning, said Deborah Giles, a conservation biologist with the University of Washington.

She was known for her breaches and often put on a show for researchers.

“She was just this really gregarious personality, so it was hard to ignore her when she was launching herself out of the water the way that she did,” said Giles. “It made it easy to fall in love with her.”

But as time went on, observers began to worry something was not quite right.

She had always been small for her age, said Giles, and researchers hoped she would eventually grow to a stable weight. That didn’t happen.

This past summer, a joint Canadian and American team of veterinarians, government officials and whale researchers launched a desperate effort to save J-50.

She had become extremely skinny over the course of the summer, pushing both American and Canadian authorities to issue permits allowing veterinarians to treat her with antibiotics and dewormer. She received two partial doses of antibiotics via dart in August.

Giles was with Gaydos when he tried to deliver dewormer to J-50 last Friday. They were among the last people to see J-50 alive.

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When she died, J-50 was not yet four years old and was the size of a one-year-old. Veterinarians were unable to diagnose her before her death, and a necropsy is unlikely. Like most whales that die, J-50’s body will probably never be found.

Her body would have sunk to the bottom of the ocean, Balcomb explained, since she was so emaciated that there wasn’t enough blubber on her body to keep it afloat.

J-50 leaves behind her mother, two sisters, a brother and a niece.

Her mother, J-16, is one of the oldest matriarchs in the area.

“She is a good mom,” said Giles. “She got her babies born, and born alive, and reared them up.”

But like many southern resident orcas in recent years, she is no stranger to tragedy. One of her sons, J-33, died in 2010 when he was 14 years old. She also had a calf in 2011 who died the same year.

As of Friday, American and Canadian authorities were still looking for her, hoping she may have stranded and could still be saved.

“We still hold out hope she is out there,” said Jim Milbury, spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

But veteran whale researchers are confident she is gone.

When Giles looked in the database orca researchers use to keep track of individual whales and their families Friday morning, J-50 had already been removed.

This is the third death this year for the southern resident killer whales. Experts agree the deaths will continue until the threats killing the whales are addressed.

The orcas made international headlines this summer when one of its members, J-35, carried her dead newborn’s body around for weeks in a profound display of grief. The southern resident orcas are threatened by vessel noise, toxins and a lack of food.

“A lot of the attention has been focused on J-50, but our goal is always to bring back this entire population,” said Gaydos.

J-50’s fight to keep up with her family, even in her last days, was an inspiration, he said.

“Just like she kept trying and trying, we have to keep trying too,” he said. “We would all be remiss to not see her as an ambassador for all of the southern residents.”

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