The young false killer whale rescued near Tofino last summer is staying at the Vancouver Aquarium, potentially as a companion to its sole surviving dolphin.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said the cetacean, named Chester, has undergone a remarkable recovery since being found stranded and in distress on Chesterman Beach in July 2014, but the animal was too young to have developed survival skills.

“It didn’t have any interaction with its mom or pod for very long, so it didn’t have the social skills, it didn’t have the foraging skills,” DFO spokesman Paul Cotrell said.

A group of marine mammal experts from Canada and the U.S. was tasked with deciding what to do with Chester, and determined the animal would not survive if released back into the wild.

The panel also said due to false killer whales’ social nature, Chester should be housed with other animals of its kind.

False killer whales belong to the dolphin family, and the aquarium said it hoped to socialize Chester with its two Pacific white-sided dolphins before one of them, Hana, suddenly fell ill earlier this month.

Hana, who was rescued 12 years ago, died on Sunday from a gastrointestinal disorder despite a groundbreaking surgery to save its life.

However, the aquarium said it still hopes to place Chester with the remaining dolphin, Helen.

Head veterinarian Dr. Martin Haulena said his team is excited to research Chester, since very little is known about the species.

It’s incredible the animal has survived this long, Haulena added, given the three or four other false killer whales that have been stranded and rescued at its age across the globe have died.

“All of those animals passed away during rehabilitation,” Haulena said. “Chester looks amazing. His blood looks great, his physical exams are coming along great, he’s grown tremendously.”

Chester was just weeks old when it was found last year, covered with cuts and too weak to swim.

The calf was placed under constant observation at the aquarium and biologists initially gave it a mere 10 per cent chance of survival.