Bad Weather Delays Release of Orphaned Gray Whale J.J.
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Poor weather and rough seas have forced a delay in the release of J.J., the orphaned California gray whale, until Tuesday at the earliest.
The Coast Guard, in tandem with Sea World and the Navy, had planned to release the 18,000-pound mammal into the Pacific Ocean today.
Officials at Sea World, where J.J. has been housed for 14 months after being rescued off Marina del Rey, hope that the whale will join other gray whales on their annual trek from Baja California to Alaska.
The peak migratory period began this week and is expected to last two more weeks, providing a three-week window to release the whale. Plans are for the Coast Guard buoy tender Conifer to lower J.J. into the water off Point Loma.
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