Stranded orca saved by volunteers

At Hartley Bay on the north coast of BC, an orca stranded on the rocks was kept alive for eight hours by a team of whale researchers and volunteers.  From the CBC July 24 2015:

Early Wednesday morning, the group received a call from a colleague about the beached orca, which was stuck on some rocks at low tide.

"We decided the best thing to do would be to keep her cool, that meant to put water on her body and we used blankets and sheets," said Hermann Meuter, a co-founder of Cetacean Lab.

"It was the only thing we could do."

Meuter said they could see the orca's behaviour change as they began to help her.

"At first she was stressed, you could see that her breathing was getting a little faster," said Meuter.

But after about 15 to 20 minutes, she began to calm down.

"I think she knew that we were there to help her," said Meuter.

Around 4 p.m. PT, the tide began to rise and the orca was able to start freeing herself.

"It took her about 45 minutes to negotiate how best to get off the rocks," said Meuter. "We all just kept our distance at that point."

When she swam away, the orca was quickly reunited with her pod, which was nearby.

(CBC July 23 2015)

That's one lucky whale.  People in the comments are arguing about the morality and wisdom of either saving whales or not saving them.  My brother says he would have helped but a lot of people are saying it's a dumb idea.  Canadians are the weirdest sometimes.

The transient orca was spotted beached on the rocks near Hartley Bay on B.C.'s northern coast on Wednesday. (Whale Point/Facebook)

Volunteers wet towels and blankets in order to keep the orca cool and wet. Courtesy of Whale Point/Facebook