SEATTLE, Wash. (AP) — A gray whale in the area may be sick from a tracking tag.
Marine mammal biologists and veterinarians are treating and monitoring the whale, now off the coast of Vancouver Island, that appears to have developed an infection after the whale was darted with a satellite tracking tag.
The Seattle Times reports the whale is part of a group of about 250 gray whales that feed off the coasts of Oregon, Washington and B.C. during the summer.
Experts say the whale appears healthy now, but they became concerned after it was seen in March with three lesions, including one around the tagging site.
The whale was later darted with antibiotics to stave off systemic infection.