Killer whales have always held a special place in the hearts of animal lovers. They’re majestic, extremely intelligent, and can communicate with each other, enabling them to coordinate their hunting.
They’re at the top of the food chain—and they use any means necessary in the pursuit of their prey. But sometimes that can out bad.
This was definitely the case for a killer whale off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. But luckily, some animal lovers discovered what happened and acted quickly.
In the summer of 2015, a pod of killer whales was out chasing after breakfast on the Hartley Bay coast.
But as the tide was going out, one of them must have ridden a wave over some rocks and got stuck. The rocks were sharp and she couldn’t move. And as the hours passed, the situation got worse and worse.
The killer whale was stressed and couldn’t stop crying.
But fortunately, a man heard her cries before it was to late.
He called a group of volunteers to come to the giant mammal’s side.
They laid blankets over her to protect her from the sun. Then, they used hoses and buckets to pour water over her and keep her from drying out.
The killer whale quickly realized that the people weren’t going to hurt her.
“At first she was stressed out—you could see that her breathing was getting a little faster. But after a little while, I think she knew that we were there to help her,” said a rescuer named George Fisher.
Since the killer whale was so large, it was impossible to move her. And even if they could have dragged her, the rocks were sharp and would have cut her up.
The only thing that her rescuers could do was keep her wet and protected from the sun until tide came back.
Then after being stuck for eight hours, the killer whale was finally able to swim in freedom!
The rescue team cheered when she broke free and swam off. What heroes they are!
They stayed with the whale for several hours, and if they hadn’t acted so quickly, the killer whale might have died before the tide came back.
“We all cared about this whale and we were just very lucky to give that whale another chance,” researcher Hermann Meuter, who also helped with the rescue, told the CBC.
See the wonderful rescue here:
These heroes really deserve to be celebrated. Don’t forget to share their story with all of your friends who love animals!
