A new rescue effort will hopefully soon be underway to rescue an orphaned orca calf in a remote area off northern Vancouver Island.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said the plan could include placing the two-year-old calf into a sling, lifting it out of the lagoon by helicopter and putting it in a holding net pen in the ocean until the calf’s family pod can be seen nearby.
Reports say the rescue effort will take place in the next few weeks.
The whale’s mother, who was also pregnant at the time, died after hunting a seal and becoming trapped in shallow water near the Vancouver Island community of Zeballos on March 23.
Ehattesaht First Nation Chief Simon John says other attempts to entice the young whale to leave the lagoon have not been successful and the nation wants to take every opportunity available to save its life.
Rescuers have been trying to lure the calf out of the lagoon by playing sounds or vocalizations from other Bigg’s Killer Whales, also known as transient whales.
However, it has not been successful and rescuers were becoming worried the calf would not survive if it could not leave the area.
— with files from The Canadian Press