Photo: CTV News

Good news for whale watchers, the endangered southern resident killer whale known as J17 has been spotted and appears to be in better health.

The Center for Whale Research in Washington State spottted the orca swimming J Pod in the northern Haro Strait on Friday.

Researchers say her breath was awful but her condition appears to have improved since her last sighting at the beginning of the year, when she was suffering from a condition called peanut head, a sign of starvation in orcas.

They add they remain cautiously optimistic that she will survive.