B.C. woman tries to coax trapped orca calf out of tidal lagoon with her violin
Carol Love watches the tides at a Vancouver Island lagoon, and when the time is right, she starts to play her violin.
She plays for an audience of one, a killer whale calf that has been trapped alone in the lagoon for almost a month.
Preparations for more conventional efforts to save the whale continue, involving a large fishing net.
But Love, from Nanaimo, B.C., stands and plays on a bridge at high tide, hoping her music entices the young orca to swim through a narrow channel, under the bridge and into the open ocean to freedom, no net required.
“She was curious,” Love said Thursday after an afternoon recital for the female orca, named kwiisahi?is, or Brave Little Hunter, by the Ehattesaht First Nation.
“It came closer to me,” she said. “It absolutely did. I'm glad I got to see her today, especially if they are going to get her out.”
Love, a Canadian military veteran, said her first visit to the bridge Wednesday night didn't work, but she did see the orca calf rise to the surface in the distance.
“A lot of my violin notes sound like orca, so hopefully she'd resonate with some of my sound and coax (herself) underneath and out to the ocean,” she said. “Every high tide I'll be on this bridge playing for her.”
Love isn't the only one working to free the whale from the lagoon near Zeballos, 450 kilometres northwest of Victoria, where it has been alone since its pregnant mother became stranded on a rocky beach at low tide and died.
A rescue team continues to prepare to catch the killer whale calf in a net and transport it to the nearby ocean.
Ehattesaht First Nation Chief Simon John would not confirm the exact timing of the next rescue attempt in an interview on Thursday, other than say, “it is going to happen eventually.”
An attempt last Friday involved more than 50 people using boats, nets, and drones. But they were unable to corral the young orca to a shallow area of the lagoon where they planned to manoeuvre it into a sling, lift it onto a truck, then take it on a barge out to sea, for a potential reunion with its pod.
More rescue equipment has been arriving over the past few days, including a large seine netting boat from Campbell River's Homalco First Nation.
Road access to the planned rescue site at the shallow end of the Little Espinosa Inlet lagoon was blocked Thursday afternoon, with a sign saying: “Active work site, no unauthorized access permitted.”
John said the Ehattesaht First Nation is committed to the whale's rescue.
“We need to save it,” he said. “We're all family in our community and family matters, and family matters to the whale that we are trying to help and get her to her pod. It's very important.”
Love was doing her bit by playing her violin along to a recording of her favourite song, “Tennessee Whiskey” by country singer Chris Stapleton.
“Everything's been tried and you have to think outside the box,” Love said.
“I'm out of my skin with joy,” she said, getting “goose pimples” at the prospect of successfully luring the whale with her music. “I really would love it if it works.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
Wisconsin school district says active shooter 'neutralized' outside middle school
A Wisconsin school district said an active shooter was 'neutralized' outside a middle school in Mount Horeb on Wednesday, and no one inside the building was injured.
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he does not regret calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko,' and now his MPs are renewing calls for the House of Commons Speaker to resign, this time over ordering the Official Opposition leader to leave the chamber.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh confirms his party will support the Liberals' federal budget
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will support the federal budget, ending any speculation that the party could pull out of its deal with the minority Liberal government.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Dental care program accepting claims for 1 million seniors
Citizens' Services Minister Terry Beech says 1,200 seniors have already visited a dentist and had their claims processed by the federal government's new dental care plan.
Lawyers for alleged serial killer to argue he is not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers told court they will argue alleged serial killer Jeremy Skibicki is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women by way of a mental disorder.
B.C. tribunal decides first case involving non-consensual sharing of intimate images
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.