Orca orphan trapped in lagoon for more than a month finally freed

An orphaned killer whale trapped in a Canadian lagoon has been freed after more than a month.

The 2-year-old female is called kiisaiis, which roughly translates to “brave little hunter” in the language of the Ehatsat Aboriginal people.

On March 23, her pregnant mother died after being stranded in a tidal lagoon on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, during low tide. Orca calves can be seen swimming in circles and making calls in the shallow water nearby.

The Ehattesaht Nation described her cries as sad, adding that if you don’t get a response, your heart sinks, according to The Guardian.

It took First Nations members, Canadian fisheries officials, scientists and other experts several weeks to free the calf, according to CBC. Their unsuccessful attempts included playing recorded orca sounds to push her in the right direction, using boats to push her out of the lagoon, and even trying to catch her with a sling.

Last week, rescuers allowed the calf to eat chunks of seal meat thrown into the water, buying some time for the orcas, who were concerned they were malnourished.

The animal voluntarily swam out of the lagoon early Friday, although the Guardian noted that in the hours before her escape, rescuers had been luring her in the direction of the bottleneck that eventually allowed her to leave.

At high tide at 2:30 a.m., on a clear, calm, starry night, Kiisahiis swam across the sandbar where her mother died, under the bridge, and along Little Espinosa Inlet to Esperan Esperanza, all by herself, Ehattesaht Nation wrote on its official Facebook page, which shared a video about the good news.

The Ehattesaht Nation said rescuers would encourage her to enter the open ocean through the inlet.

Once she returns to open water, the young orca’s biggest obstacle will be finding her group. Martin Haulena, director of mammal health at the Vancouver Aquarium, told CBC News that two-year-old orcas are often still very dependent on their mothers and family groups. However, he said if the orca could be reunited with her group, he was pretty sure they would bring her back.

Meanwhile, wildlife officials and First Nations members are asking the public to avoid the area to give the calf the best chance of returning home, Ehattesaht Chief Simon John said in a statement to The Associated Press.

He said every opportunity needed to be provided for her to return to her family with as little human interaction as possible.