Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Oakland-ish
Posts: 6041

Whale Experts Attempt to Rescue Stranded Orca

KIRO 7 EYEWITNESS NEWS

SEQUIM (Washington) -- A very frustrating whale rescue continued Thursday in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

A male orca beached himself several times, just a mile away from where a female orca was found dead.

Pictures from Chopper 7 showed the whale in shallow waters, as rescuers were trying to coax the orca to deeper waters.

A spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service says whale experts are "not optimistic" about the survival of the whale.

Spokesman Brian Gorman says the male has returned to shore at least three times near where a female died yesterday on the beach.

"Periodically, it would let out squeals and squeaks of increased communication, which was really sad to hear," said Carolyn Schroeder, who lives nearby.

Whale researcher Kelly Balcomb says he suspects the male may have gotten stranded as he was mourning the female's death.

Searchers also plan to look for a third whale -- a baby -- that observers reported in the area.

Experts say they believe the whales are so-called transient whales, which visit Washington's inland waters but aren't part of the resident pods of orcas that live in the Puget Sound area.

A necropsy -- the animal equivalent of an autopsy -- is planned on the dead female, including tests to determine whether the whale had been exposed to toxins.

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saw this on the news tonight, it just mad me feel sad watching the whale beach itself. I have seen pods of whales when I have gone on the ferries here and they are just breathtaking to see. I hope they are able to get it out to the open water.

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Registered: Dec 2001
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Sad.

And sad that humans don't typically care for their loved ones that much.

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Registered: Dec 2001
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Animal Liberation.>:

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Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Oakland-ish
Posts: 6041

SEQUIM, Wash. - A killer whale that repeatedly stranded itself in Washington state’s Dungeness Bay is free.

Three orca whale experts from the Vancouver Aquarium took part in the rescue effort.

Dr. John Nightingale of the Aquarium says rescuers fastened a harness around the whale's tail and towed the orca through the bay's inlet into the open water of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

He says a radio collar has been strapped to the orca to track its movements.

It was swimming west toward the Pacific Ocean Friday afternoon.

It was the sixth attempt to free the adult male since it was discovered Wednesday in the bay with a female that beached itself and died. Previously, each time the whale was "freed" it swam back to shore.

It's not clear why the male orca stranded itself in the first place, but scientists believe it may have been trying to reach its mother, which was found dead, floating nearby.

A cheer went up among more than a dozen rescuers as the orca finally took off in the right direction.

They are still monitoring the 21-foot whale and trying to remove a float still attached to a flipper.

Nightingale says a preliminary examination of the female did not reveal a cause of death and more tests will be conducted.

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