The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

They release an orca that had been trapped between rocks in Alaska

2021-08-02T23:12:12.361Z


The orca was stranded for six hours on the rocky Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, and received help from sailors who were in the area.


Orca calf spotted in Argentine Patagonia 0:42

(CNN) -

A killer whale washed up on a rocky beach on Alaska's Prince of Wales Island was released Thursday morning with help from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). ) and sailors who were nearby.

The beached killer whale was first discovered on the rocks by a nearby ship, the Steadfast, according to NOAA, which "authorized them to use a seawater pump to keep the killer whale hydrated and ward off any birds," said the NOAA spokesperson Julie Fair to CNN.

The boat's crew kept an eye on the orca until an official from NOAA and the Alaska Wildlife Police arrived.

"At some points during the grounding, the killer whale was vocalizing and other killer whales were seen in the vicinity," Fair said.

The beached killer whale.

The orca finally floated at high tide on Thursday afternoon, according to NOAA.

Bay Cetology, a Canadian conservation group, was able to determine that it was a 13-year-old juvenile killer whale that they had previously monitored and identified as T146D.

Fair said NOAA is examining photos and videos of the orca to determine if it was injured.

The animal was stranded less than a day after an 8.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska, but NOAA does not believe that was the cause of its stranding.

advertising

  • The strong 8.2 magnitude earthquake that struck off Alaska's coast was the strongest in decades, official says

A TikTok user going by the name Aroon Melane shared a video showing people helping to keep the killer whale wet until NOAA arrived and said the killer whale was able to swim free once the tide returned.

"We found out there was a stranded killer whale, so we went looking for it. NOAA gave permission to keep the killer whale wet and protected from animals until they could get there," Melane says in the video.

"We were working to get a hose and a pump to work. In the meantime, we used the buckets to keep the killer whale wet. The killer whale started to perk up more when we poured water on it."

People helping the killer whale with buckets of water.

The orca was stuck for about six hours, he added.

It's not the first time that Bigg's killer whale has gotten stuck in rocks, according to Bay Cetology.

"Our research on this particular topic, published last year, shows that all live killer whales stranded along the west coast of North America in the past two decades have been of the Bigg ecotype and all of them have survived, sometimes with a little help, "said the conservation group.

Passing killer whales hunt sea lions, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

They can often be found stranded alive "in search of prey," according to a Bay Cetology study, which adds that while human help is not always necessary, it can often save killer whales' lives as well as their family ties.

It is unclear how the orca was stranded or if it was hunting seals when it was trapped.

Killer whale

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-08-02

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.