Plans to rescue a whale calf stranded in a lagoon near Zeballos are rapidly taking shape.
The Ehattesaht First Nation is working with a salmon farm company to set up a net pen in the ocean near the lagoon, where the calf can be kept safe until she can be reunited with her pod.
The nation plans to use a seine net to corral the orca into shallow water, where she will be lifted out in a sling by a crane truck and taken to the net pen in a landing craft or boat. Previous plans involving a helicopter have been scrapped.
The net pen will arrive Sunday. Meanwhile the Nation and whale experts are keeping an eye on the orca, named “Brave Little Hunter” by the Ehattesaht, and have been trying to feed her seal meat. She is a Biggs killer whale, which eat mostly marine mammals, unlike their southern resident cousins which eat only salmon.
She has been in the lagoon since March 23, when her mother became stranded and died while hunting. There is only one narrow entrance to the lagoon, available only at the highest tides, making the rescue challenging.
Witnesses report the calf appears in good health, surfacing regularly. Fisheries and Oceans Canada is on scene with boats and drones monitoring the orca’s situation.
