On Thursday, wildlife officials, local sailors, and the approaching tide helped a 20-foot orca that had become stranded on rocks in Prince of Wales Island, Ala. According to CNN, boaters in the area saw the stranded whale in a crack in the rocks that was nearly 5 feet above the tide line.
The team contacted the NOAA, who permitted them to pump seawater onto the orca to keep it moist and deter birds. TikTok user Aroon Melane documented the rescue effort with a video in which the crew members can be seen throwing buckets of water at the stranded orca.
“We were working on getting a hose and pump to work,” Melane says in the video. “In the meantime, we used buckets to keep the orca wet.” Thankfully, Melane says the whale became more lively after the crew put water on them.
The tide sent the orca back to the water six hours after it was first spotted. Once the tide came in, the whale was able to free itself from the rocks and swim away.
To assess whether or not the whale was hurt, NOAA will review images and videos recorded during the rescue, according to NOAA spokesperson Julie Fair, who spoke to CNN.
Who or what triggered the beaching is still unknown. An earthquake of 8.2 magnitudes occurred less than a day prior off the coast of southwest Alaska, but NOAA does not think that is what led to the orca becoming trapped.
No other whales were beached, but “at times during the stranding, the killer whale was vocalizing and other killer whales were spotted in the vicinity,” Fair told CNN.
Many thanks to the good Samaritans who spent the day ensuring the safety of this orca!
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