The Daily Mail has a happy-ending story about an Orca that was rescued by humans. Apparently the whale had got stuck on some rocks and was stranded for six hours before the tide brought it back into the water. Before the whale made it back into the ocean, humans kept the Orca wet and scared off birds trying to get to the creature. Read the story below.
From Daily Mail:
“Good Samaritans saved a 20-foot Orca that was stuck between rocks on an Alaskan shore by continuously dousing it with water and protecting it from birds who circled above the defenseless whale.
The whale was ultimately saved after a six-hour, labor-intensive life-saving operation.
Someone spotted the the large whale on the Prince of Wales Island near the coast of British Columbia Thursday morning. The Coast Guard was called around 9am local time.
Chance Strickland, the captain of a private yacht in Alaska, and his crew anchored and began life-saving maneuvers that were captured on video by Aroon Melane and posted on Instagram.
Strickland could hear the orca calling out to killer whales swimming in the area. ‘I don’t speak a lot of whale, but it didn’t seem real stoked,’ he told The New York Times.
People on other boats stopped with water and buckets to douse the orca. Mr. Strickland and his crew gave the whale a wide berth in case it started flopping around, he said.
‘There were tears coming out of its eyes,’ he told The Times. ‘It was pretty sad.’
The group of Good Samaritans formed a chain that passed buckets of seawater back and forth and poured the water on the Orca, which seemed to liven it up. It made a noise and raised its tail when it got water.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was called in, which can be seen on the video using a machine to spray a mist of seawater on the Orca, which doubled as a way to keep the whale cool and scare the congregation of birds that were hoping to feast on the beast.
Melane said in her video that the Orca was stranded for about six hours until the tide came in swept it back into the ocean.”
Great job, humans!
DCG
Oh my. Such Good Samaritans! I will never forget watching Orcas sleep. As a GATE teacher, I’d take my brood once a year to Sea World San Diego (among other venues/lessons) to sleep overnight in one of the exhibits, and do a “behind the scenes” instruction the next day. I’d slip out after everyone was asleep and go to the Orca pool. They sleep with their noses/mouths above water, the rest of their bodies perpendicular and floating as tho’ suspended in space. You can observe this clearly in the Sea World tank set-up. It’s a sight to see. Tho’ I’ve seen this phenomenon in captivity, I’d love to witness this in the Orca’s natural habitat. Bottom line: I’d work 6 hours to save an Orca, too. Thank goodness these people knew what to do and did it.
“There were tears coming out of its eyes”
And yet there are still people who insist animals don’t have feelings.
Same people who consider our Dogs and Cats to be mere possessions.
Thank you DCG for this amazing post! It is so touching! Thank God for the dear people who helped – wonderful!