British Columbia News
Tuesday, Apr 26, 2005

Beached Vancouver whale swims to freedom with two others

DELTA, B.C. (CP) - A young grey whale that was beached near the community of Tsawwassen swam away with high tide Monday evening and joined two other whales to freedom.
The whale seemed to be struggling for life earlier in the day but swam away quite strongly, said Vancouver Aquarium spokesman Jeremy Fitzgibbon.

Veterinarian Dr. David Huff of the aquarium said earlier that the extremely thin whale was suffering from an illness, reducing its chances of survival. But bloodwork taken from the animal later in the day came back showing no irregularities.

The lethargic whale hardly moved except to fill its lungs in gasping breaths.

Although Huff referred to the whale as a female, its sex hadn't been determined. It was given antibiotics and members of the aquarium's marine mammal rescue crew were waiting for high tide to see if the whale could make it back into the water at Boundary Bay.

"She's at the very least been starving and is most likely starving and sick and just came up here because she no longer had the energy to keep afloat," said Huff, adding the prognosis for the animal's recovery is poor.

"The whole problem is she's not a healthy animal that somehow blundered up on the beach."

Huff said there has been a pod of grey whales in the same area for the last week.

The grey whale has one of the longest annual migrations of any mammal. They begin their southward migration in September to winter in lagoons along California and Mexico, and between February and May they migrate to northern feeding grounds.

The beached whale, which is about is 5.5 metres long, was found on Monday morning.

A dozen people volunteered to help in the rescue attempt as about 50 others watched.

Tom Huska, a firefighter from nearby Vancouver who was visiting the beach, was one of the first to spot the whale on the beach.

"I had a race car tent sitting at home, so we put that up over the whale's head to keep it cool," he said.

"People started to dig and help out."

Huska contacted the nearby fire hall and borrowed hundreds of metres of hoses to pump cool water from the closest hydrant onto the whale.

"Everybody's helping out, it's great," Huska said. "It's a team effort and we're getting it done."

Yuki Cormier, a Tsawwassen resident, brought her two children to see the whale.

"It's so sad," she said. "I hope its going to be saved. There are many people making a lot of effort."

The average length of a grey whale is about 14 metres and they weight up to 35 tonnes. They live between 50 and 70 years and are a coastal species, best adapted for life in shallow waters.

© The Canadian Press, 2005