ZEBALLOS, British Columbia (AP) — A young killer whale stuck for more than a month in a Vancouver Island lagoon swam through a bottleneck at high tide early Friday, reaching a cove that could l taken offshore, officials said. .
The Ehattesaht and Nuchatlaht First Nations said in a statement that a team monitoring the 2-year-old calf saw it swim past the area where its mother died, go under a bridge and down the creek “all by itself.”
The young orca still has to leave Little Espinosa Inlet to reach the open sea.
The cub had been stuck in the tidal lagoon near the village of Zeballos in British Columbia, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) northwest of Victoria, since March 23, when his pregnant mother became stranded at tidal bass and died on a rocky beach.
“Today the community of Zeballos and people around the world wake up to incredible news and what can only be described as pride for the strength this little orca has shown,” said Chief Simon John in a press release.
Officials said they hope that once the whale reaches the open sea, its cries will be heard by its orca family.
John said officials and nation members were putting protective measures in place to ensure the whale had no contact with people or boats.
“Every opportunity must be given for her to return to her family with as little human interaction as possible,” he said.
In mid-April, an attempt to free the whale involved using a net to restrain it in a large cloth sling in shallow water. The whale managed to dodge a rescue team of 50 people who used boats, divers and sophisticated underwater detection equipment.
In another effort, a woman tried to coax the whale out of the lagoon by playing her violin at high tide.
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