A group of Good Samaritans, with some help from NOAA, helped rescue a 20-foot-long orca that was stranded on the rocks on Prince of Wales Island, just above Ketchikan in Alaska. They poured water on the 13-year-old orca for about six hours until the tide turned, and the whale, known as TD146D, a member of the West Coast transient orca population, was able to swim out to sea and rejoin its pod.
The Coast Guard received the first call about the stranded whale at 9 in the morning.The orca was at least four feet above the waterline then, and the tide was going out.
Chance Strickland, the captain of the M/Y Steadfast, and his crew saw the whale as they were cruising by. They anchored out and came ashore to spray the whale with seawater. The idea was to keep the orca cool and to scare away the predatory birds that had gathered in nearby trees, waiting for a chance to eat the orca alive.
People from other boats arrived and helped out; so did an enforcement officer from NOAA. They formed a bucket brigade to splash water on the orca, until the NOAA officer set up a water pipe with a pump to finish the job.
The orca, meanwhile, was calling to its pod and was in some distress. Strickland said he could see tears falling from its eyes.
Once the tide turned, the whale was able first to float and then to swim out to sea. The NOAA officer accompanied it until it joined its pod. Read more:
