A stranded young killer whale is displaying signs of regular activity as it leaps out of the water every seven to 10 minutes in a lagoon near the northern Vancouver Island village of Zeballos.
The two-year-old orca has been solitary in the lagoon near Little Espinosa Inlet since March 23 when its mother got stuck by the low tide and passed away on the rocky beach.
The orca calf is leaping out of the water from a midsection of the lagoon but it is avoiding the narrow exit area that leads to the open ocean, where its mother also died.
Efforts by members of the area’s Ehattesaht First Nation, Fisheries Department marine mammal scientists, and others to encourage the orca calf through the narrow channel area, using boats, directional lines, and whale calls, have not been successful so far.
The daily low tide at the lagoon reveals the challenging channel area where the orca calf must pass through, but also shows a healthy shoreline that is home to starfish, oysters, mussels, and clams.
Cedar boughs placed by the First Nations residents hang from the bridge where the young orca must pass and a bouquet of flowers rests at the roadside where people are watching the situation unfold.
The Fisheries Department says it has identified two of the calf’s family pods after a whale researcher examined photographs from a whale watching group who spotted the transient killer whales in Barkley Sound on Sunday.
Related
- Rescuers hope AI will help reunite orphaned whale with its family in B.C.
- Mother orca dies on Vancouver Island beach despite rescue efforts
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