'Very smart' B.C. orca calf evades rescuers, forcing switch in tactics
A “very smart” orca calf trapped in a remote B.C. lagoon managed to dodge a 50-strong rescue team using boats, divers, nets and sophisticated underwater detection equipment in an attempt to save her life on Friday.
Rescue officials said that after the disappointment of the unsuccessful attempt, other capture and transport methods are being considered, including using a seine net and a bigger vessel to snare the two-year-old female.
“This is a very smart animal and we're going to have to look at other options,” Paul Cottrell, Fisheries Department marine mammal co-ordinator, said in an interview at the rescue site near Vancouver Island village of Zeballos.
“Today didn't work out the way we'd hoped it to,” he said. “We have to step it up in terms of our approach and how we're going to help the animal.”
Rescuers said they were considering trying to net the orca calf in the lagoon's deep waters, instead of using the net to corral the animal into a large fabric sling in the shallows as they did on Friday.
Ehattesaht First Nation Chief Simon John said in a late briefing that a different boat might be needed to capture the calf in the deeps that it has been reluctant to leave since its mother died three weeks ago in the lagoon, 450 kilometres northwest of Victoria.
“A purse seine (net) is available to us, to actually achieve trying to net it … with that it may take a bigger vessel, so we're trying to think about the vessel available to us, to make available to the process to actually purse-seine it.”
Such strategy poses risks, both to the calf and rescuers in the water, said Cottrell, but all options were on the table.
“The planning around using a purse seine or a beach seine or a seine in a different method … there's going to be a lot of planning around that to make sure it's safe for the animal and also all of us working in that environment,” he said in the briefing. “Whenever you're working with nets, there's a risk.”
The rescuers spent Friday trying to direct the calf into a shallow part of the three-kilometre lagoon, so she could be placed in the sling and hoisted onto a transport vehicle and taken to the open ocean.
“It was very promising, however, we weren't able to convince her to move close enough to set out the big seine net to isolate the calf,” said Cottrell.
Flat-bottom jet boats circled an area of the lagoon where the rescue team was trying to shepherd the young orca. An Indigenous war canoe was also on the water, its paddlers singing and keeping time with a steady drum beat.
The Ehattesaht First Nation named the young orca kwiisahi?is, or Brave Little Hunter, after she ventured into the tidal lagoon off northwest Vancouver Island with her mother last month, via a shallow channel. Tragedy ensued when the pregnant mother stranded on a rocky beach at low tide and died.
John did not directly say when a second rescue attempt could be made, other than “maybe in a couple of days.”
The department previously discussed holding the young orca in an ocean net pen when she was caught, then freeing her when members of the mother's family were nearby, but now it says she will be released directly into open water where it's thought she is most likely to encounter her family pod.
Cottrell said he was hopeful that if the calf could be freed, it would find its way back to its family of Bigg's killer whales.
“There's a very high likelihood in a short amount of time there will be some sort of interaction or reunion and that's what we're hoping for,” he said.
Veterinarian Martin Haulena from the Vancouver Aquarium told the briefing that the calf was in “not a great situation by any stretch” but there were no critical health concerns, and she was swimming well enough to make dives lasting seven or eight minutes in the deeps of the lagoon.
A statement by John, the Ehattesaht First Nation council and the rescue team said they made the decision to stand down Friday's rescue bid after the young orca “simply decided she was not ready to be moved.”
The statement said the team would regroup after this initial attempt and start planning next steps.
“We're kind of looking at other options now going forward, realizing that this animal is very smart,” Cottrell said. “It's adapting to our tactics and we're going to try a different tactic going forward.”
The rescue attempt had started at 5 a.m. on Friday, triggered by weather that dawned cool and clear after days of heavy rain.
Previous efforts to persuade the calf to swim back through the shallow channel proved futile.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Police arrest 3 Indian nationals in killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Human remains found in rural Sask. possibly a decade old, RCMP say
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey is never quitting 'The Price Is Right'
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.