New strategy being tested, hopes remain high in effort to reunite orphaned orca with family
Marine mammal experts who’re trying to escort an orphaned killer whale out of a B.C. lagoon will be trying a new strategy on day four at the remote scene near Zeballos.
An analyst with a conservation group that’s helping with the efforts says Bigg’s killer whales don’t seem to like lines on the water’s surface or dangling from it – so the team had been planning to string one across two boats then move toward the entrance of the lagoon.
“And hopefully the whale is deterred by that and will exit through under the bridge and back into open waters,” says Bay Cetology analyst Gary Sutton.
“All the boats are getting ready to guide her out of the bay to reunite with her family,” says Nuchatlaht fisheries employee, Judae Smith early in the afternoon. She says five members of the calf’s family have been spotted in the Kyuquot area and two around Yuquot.
In a statement, the elected chief of Ehattesaht First Nation says he’s relying on the advice from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and is meeting with them often. The nation says the baby is being called kʷiisaḥiʔis [kwee-sa-hay-is], which means “Brave Little Hunter.”
“We will have to think about her safety and limiting all the human interaction so we will be closing the road for most of the day with local traffic only passing,” says Chief Simon John.
On Saturday, the two-year-old calf’s mother died after getting trapped on a gravel bar at low tide in Little Espinoza Inlet– despite community efforts to refloat the large mammal as the tide was coming up.
“We think she may have been there for a few hours but I don’t want to guess,” says John. “Certainly it is heartbreaking being there and being helpless.”
“The lagoon has a narrow entrance way and the water rushes in and out. It has always been a hunting ground for the killer whales looking for seals and I guess she went too far up the beach at the exact wrong time. It is something we will want fixed,” adds John.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans, with the help of Nuchatlaht and Ehattesaht First Nations, performed a necropsy on the transient whale Monday. It was then people discovered the orca had been pregnant.
“To see the calf was another shot in the gut as if there wasn’t enough of one already,” says Sutton.
Yesterday the team had also tried coaxing the surviving calf out of the lagoon by playing recordings of calls by close family members, but it didn’t have the same effect as past cases.
“I’m still hopeful,” says Sutton. “And I think the vibe around the area is still hopeful as well.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.