WHALE OF A TALE; A YEAR AFTER RESCUING J.J. FROM DEATH'S DOOR, SEA WORLD PREPARES TO GIVE HER A NEW LIFE IN THE WILD.

Byline: Brooke Olson Daily News Staff Writer

One year and nearly 16,000 pounds later, J.J. is getting ready to leave Sea World.

The California gray whale arrived Jan. 11, 1997, at the world-renowned aquatic center, after washing ashore on Venice Beach at the tender age of 4 days. Weak from malnourishment and near death, J.J. had only a 50 percent chance of survival, even in the expert hands of her caretakers in San Diego.

Through their hard work and a lot of luck, J.J. not only survived, she prospered, growing to 17,000 pounds and nearly 29 feet - a far cry from the 13-foot, 1,600 pound calf that arrived at Sea World last winter.

``We're lucky that she survived that period,'' said Dr. Tom Reidarson, a Sea World veterinarian who has worked closely with J.J. over the last year.

Now, J.J. faces the second life-or-death challenge in her young life - surviving after her return to the wild.

J.J.'s caretakers said last week that they plan to return her to the ocean sometime in late March or early April.

Her survival hinges on whether she has retained her whale instincts during her year in captivity and whether the other gray whales allow her to join their group - for without them her chances are slim.

Sea World officials say that a lot of time, effort and emotion has been put into ensuring J.J.'s survival up until now. They say returning her to her natural environment is the right thing to do.

``It's best for the animal and for the environment,'' Reidarson said. ``Besides, we won't have a tank large enough to hold her a year from now.''

In fact, J.J. is almost too big now.

The Coast Guard, which will transport J.J. out to the ocean, plans to use a crane to lift the whale, named for the late Judi Jones, former director of the animal rescue organization Friends of the Sea Lion in Laguna.

The crane's limit? A mere 20,000 pounds.

``With the way she's been putting on weight, they're going to have to put her on a diet soon,'' joked Jerry Snyder, Coast Guard chief warrant officer.

At the height of her growth spurt, J.J. was putting on 70 pounds a day. Weaned onto a solid foods diet last May, J.J. subsists on 750 pounds of krill and fish daily.

Her release is nearly three months away, but preparations and practice runs are well under way. ``It's all a matter of timing,'' Snyder said.

And officials will have just a small window of opportunity in order to safely release J.J. back into the wild. The goal is to place her in a group of gray whales, called a pod.

Beginning in late March, Coast Guard crews will use a helicopter to scour the coast for a pod of whales. With fingers crossed, Sea World experts hope that J.J. will be quickly accepted into the group.

``Gray whales are kind of like cows. They're not really curious,'' Robinson said. ``Chances are they'll look at her and then go right back to what they're doing, which will probably be eating.''

If J.J.'s not accepted, animal experts hope she'll have enough instinct - and luck - to survive on her own.

``But we're very optimistic that she'll be able to join the group,'' Robinson added.

Finding the pod of whales, though, is the easy part. It's getting J.J. from her tank at Sea World to the ocean and then out to the whales that will take some coordination.

``Everything has to fall into place at the right time,'' Snyder said.

Out to sea

Once the pod has been spotted, Sea World officials will use a large canvas stretcher to hoist J.J. into a foam-padded truck. From there, she will be transported to the Conifer, a 180-foot Coast Guard ship used to lift cement-plastered buoys out of the ocean. The boat also has a large cargo boom on the front, as well as a very large deck.

``The size of the boat is important,'' Snyder said. ``We're dealing with a very, very large animal.''

Once J.J. is aboard the ship, it is just a matter of getting the boat to the whales. ``It's going to take some maneuvering - we're going east, and the whales will be moving north,'' Snyder said.

Many other people will be involved in her release. Coast Guard boat patrols will be responsible for keeping onlookers out of the way, helicopters will control air traffic, and Sea World workers will keep the whale moist throughout the entire trip, estimated to take three to five hours.

``This is certainly no easy thing,'' Reidarson said. ``I have every finger and toe crossed.''

Keeping track of J.J.

If all goes well, Sea World experts plan to closely track J.J. for one to two years, depending on how long the battery pack on her tracker lasts. In addition, trained sea lions equipped with cameras on their backs will record the whale's progress. Already, Sea World has started introducing the sea lions to J.J.

``This is such an exciting event - we'll be able to observe the development of a whale from essentially childhood to adulthood,'' Robinson said.

J.J. already has taught these experts a few things or two about gray whales.

Until her arrival, Sea World had little experience with baby gray whales, having had only one other whale in captivity. In 1971, Gigi was captured for research purposes and successfully released after a year.

``What we learned from Gigi helped a great deal in terms of taking care of J.J.,'' Reidarson said. ``But we certainly have learned even more about these animals by having J.J.''

``We've really enjoyed having her as educational research,'' said Danielle Oki, manager of Sea World's education programs. ``She's really helped people create a greater appreciation for and understanding of the gray whale.''

For her caretakers, the much-anticipated release day will be a moment of both triumph and heartache.

``We've learned so much from her. We've practically rewritten the books on gray whales,'' said Kevin Robinson, senior animal care specialist for Sea World. ``We're definitely going to miss her.''

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos, map, box

PHOTO (1 -- 2 -- color) J.J., above, opens wide for a meal of krill at Sea World in San Diego. A year ago, below, she was fed through a tube.

Photo courtesy Sea World (1)

Associated Press (2)

(3 -- 4 -- color) Sea World keeper Stacy DiRocco prepares a snack of krill, mixed with 100 multivitamins, for J.J. the gray whale, right, who celebrated her first birthday sometime last week. Sea World is working with the Coast Guard on a plan to return J.J. to a life in the ocean.

Tina Gerson/Daily News (3)

Photo courtesy Sea World (4)

Box: About whales

Source: Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals 

Map: Whale trail

Gregg Miller, Dionisio Munoz/Daily News