Orphaned orca calf remains elusive, but is still healthy
A second attempt to rescue an orphaned killer whale calf stranded in a remote tidal lagoon off northwest Vancouver Island was postponed on Saturday after an initial effort to capture the young orca failed a day earlier.
An administrator working with the Ehattesaht First Nation on the whale rescue attempt said the team is regrouping and planning its next effort to save the young orca, but said there is currently no date set for that operation.
Rescuers said the orca evaded capture during Friday's initial attempt to corral her into the shallows of the lagoon with a net. The plan was to then place her in a sling and carry her to open waters.
Fisheries Department marine mammal coordinator Paul Cottrell said there was a huge effort to catch the calf but she's “very smart” and they have to rethink their strategies.
He said rescuers, including members of the Ehattesaht First Nation, Vancouver Aquarium staff and other experts, aren't giving up and remain optimistic.
They note the calf is still in good health and swimming well.
The Ehattesaht First Nation have named the young orca kwiisahi?is, or Brave Little Hunter.
The two-year-old whale has been alone in Little Espinosa Inlet, more than 450 kilometres northwest of Victoria, for three weeks since its pregnant mother was stranded on a rocky beach at low tide and died on March 23.
The two whales entered the lagoon last month by swimming through a narrow and fast-moving channel connecting it to the ocean.
Efforts to persuade the calf to swim back through the shallow channel proved futile.
A statement by Ehattesaht First Nation Chief Simon John, the Ehattesaht First Nation council and the rescue team said they made the decision to stand down Friday's rescue bid after the young orca “simply decided she was not ready to be moved.”
Veterinarian Martin Haulena from the Vancouver Aquarium told the briefing that the calf was in “not a great situation by any stretch” but there were no critical health concerns, and she was swimming well enough to make dives lasting seven or eight minutes in the deeps of the lagoon.