An orca calf trapped for weeks in a remote lagoon in western Canada has been freed and is headed for open water, in what a growing number of human advocates are calling incredible news.
A month after a tragic accident left her stranded, this move brings her one step closer to being reunited with her family.
The two-year-old calf, known as kiisaiis (pronounced kwee-sahay-is), a name that roughly translates to “brave little hunter,” was trapped with her mother in tiny Espinosa, northwest The shallow waters of the bay. Arriving on Vancouver Island in late March.
The 14-year-old mother died on March 23, and all efforts to rescue the calf were unsuccessful. Even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau weighed in on the incident, calling the calf’s plight heartbreaking.
But in the early hours of April 26, at high tide, on a clear, calm, starry night, a small group of rescuers watched her swim under the bridge that had long been an obstacle to her freedom, and the results, considering The logistical challenges of capturing and transporting killer whales, which the team has long believed were the best outcomes.
In the hours before she left, federal fisheries officials and members of the Ehatsat First Nation fed her chunks of seal meat, gradually luring her toward the lagoon’s bottleneck.
iiatis/iinaxnt Chief and Council said in a press release that today the Zeballos community and people around the world were made aware of some incredible news that can only be described as a response to this baby orca. Pride in strength.
The calf outsmarted a 50-person rescue team weeks ago and forced experts to reconsider how to lure killer whales out of the area.
Her death marked a bittersweet end to a long collective effort to save the calf, which had previously involved using family members’ voices, banging metal pipes and laying ropes with floats to save the calf. To lure them out, but failed.
The saga began on March 23, when residents of a coastal community in Northwest Vancouver Island found Spong trapped in a trough-like depression on the coast. As her mother struggled, Kisais hovered in the shallow water nearby, and cries for help came from hydrophones placed in the water.
The Ehatsat Nation said the calls serve as a reminder of the risks of rescue. They’re sad, and when they don’t get answers, your heart sinks.
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While the lagoon’s fresh water has lightened parts of her skin, she has begun eating seal meat thrown away by the rescue team in recent days, allaying fears she would soon become malnourished, a development that led to a second Rescue attempts cease.
The Ehattesaht Nation said as kwiisaiis resolves this part of the challenge on her own, we need to provide every opportunity to return her to her family with as little human interaction as possible.
Kiisaiis are an ecotype of Biggs killer whales that have a different social structure than the endangered southern killer whales. Experts say as Biggs whales migrate to different groups, there’s a good chance the calves will be accepted into their extended families.
Since the stranding began, Ehattesaht has emphasized the deeply spiritual element of the rescue.
The Nuchanus origin story tells of killer whales landing on land and transforming into wolves, who in turn transformed into humans.
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Image Source : www.theguardian.com