Baby Gray Whale J.J. Moves to Larger Pool at Sea World Where She’ll See Visitors

They grow up so fast.

J.J., an orphaned baby gray whale that has been recuperating at Sea World since she was rescued off Venice Beach, was moved from an isolation tank to a spacious pool where visitors can see her.

On Friday night animal specialists placed the whale in a white nylon sling and hoisted her by a steel cable onto a foam rubber nest on a 24-foot flatbed truck. During the quarter-mile journey to the pool, J.J. was sprayed with saltwater and rubbed with soaked towels to keep her skin moist.

J.J. can now see guests through a 70-foot glass viewing panel along the side of the pool.

When the California gray whale was rescued Jan. 11 she was nearly comatose and weighed 1,638 pounds. Animal rescuers had to support the calf so she didn’t sink to the bottom of the medical pool.

But five weeks later, she has put on more than 950 pounds and gains an average of 1.2 pounds per hour. J.J. also measures more than 13 feet, two feet longer than when she arrived.

Relative to other whales, she has a long way to go. Adult California gray whales can weigh as much as 37 tons and be as long as 55 feet.

Sea World officials hope to return J.J. to the Pacific Ocean, possibly by late December.