Stranded Orca Saved

photo from the Whale Point Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/whale.point.3/posts/912426832151101

A young transient orca was saved by whale researchers and local volunteers yesterday when the orca became beached on some rocks as the tide went out. The orca was spotted high and dry on the rocky shore near Hartley Bay on the central BC coast. The volunteers kept the orca cooled with watered sheets and blankets for nearly seven years it took for the tide to return.
The CBC reported:

"We decided the best thing to do would be to keep her cool, that meant to put water on her body and we used blankets and sheets," said Hermann Meuter, a co-founder of Cetacean Lab. "It was the only thing we could do." Meuter said they could see the orca's behaviour change as they began to help her. "At first she was stressed, you could see that her breathing was getting a little faster," said Meuter. But after about 15 to 20 minutes, she began to calm down. "I think she knew that we were there to help her," said Meuter. Around 4 p.m. PT, the tide began to rise and the orca was able to start freeing herself. "It took her about 45 minutes to negotiate how best to get off the rocks," said Meuter. "We all just kept our distance at that point." When she swam away, the orca was quickly reunited with her pod, which was nearby.

Check out the remarkable story in the video below: