Following failed attempts to coax the stranded orca calf Brave Little Hunter out of the Zeballos lagoon, rescuers are returning with more boats, equipment, and people.
A large seine fishing vessel, equipped with a net capable of containing a nearly 700-kilogram killer whale calf, a flat-bottom design and crane-like mechanism for lifting heavy nets. has arrived in Zeballos, BC, to aid in the rescue of the young orca.
The female calf, named kwiisaḥiʔis or “Brave Little Hunter” by the local Ehattesaht First Nation has been stranded in the lagoon on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island for over a month.
Brave Little Hunter and her pregnant mother, Spong, became stranded in the Zeballos lagoon while hunting on May 23rd. Spong beached herself on an exposed sand bar, and when the tide rose she was stuck on her side and drowned.
An initial rescue effort of the calf last Friday, with some 50 people, failed to corral her into a position where she could be placed into a sling and transported by truck and barge to the open ocean.
So far, the calf has resisted attempts by rescuers to coax her to the exit of the lagoon with seal meat.
Another rescue attempt is being planned, said Chief Simon John of the Ehattesaht First Nation, involving marine experts from the Vancouver Aquarium, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and seve犀利士 ral Indigenous nations.
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