Heartbreaking footage of baby orca refusing to leave lagoon where its mother died is captured off Vancouver Island coast – as rescues scramble to save the young whale’s life

A two-year-old killer whale has been circling a Canadian lagoon for days, refusing to leave the area where its mother died on the shore.

The mother of the young whale, named Spong, died after becoming stuck in the shallow waters off the west coast of Vancouver.

Conservationists and scientists are now in a race against time to retrieve the young orca from the lagoon and return it to the sea before it succumbs to starvation.

But these mammals usually stay with their mother all their lives, so it is not known whether the two-year-old child will ever leave his mother’s resting place.

The young whale’s mother, Spong, died after becoming stuck in the shallow waters off the west coast of Vancouver

Marine mammal rescue officials, First Nations tribal leaders, scientists and volunteers said they are doing everything they can to save the baby.

The First Nations tribe who make up the local community named the calf kʷiisaḥiʔis (pronounced kwee-sahay-is), meaning ‘Brave Little Hunter’, and team efforts are underway to find the calf’s pod and hatch it to lure the lagoon.

The community has been working tirelessly to save the baby orca since Saturday morning when a call came in from a road maintenance worker who spotted a beached whale.

It is not clear why the mother and her calf entered the lagoon, but experts believe it was due to a mistimed attack that left her trapped in a coastal depression.

Conservationists and scientists are now in a race against time to get the baby out to watch before it succumbs to starvation

These mammals usually stay with their mother for their entire lives, so it is unknown if the two-year-old will ever leave its mother’s resting place

As the tide receded in the lagoon, Spong was left on her side, struggling to move. Although rescue teams tried to roll her onto her stomach and douse her with water, she died at 10.45am – two hours after she was spotted.

And during the autopsy, experts discovered that she was also pregnant.

“It was absolutely devastating, especially because we knew from the start that the tide was against us,” said Glen McCall of Totem Excavating, who received the call. The guard.

“We didn’t have enough manpower,” he said. “It just wasn’t enough.”

Rescuers have been trying to lure kʷiisaḥiʔis out of the lagoon using acoustic killer whale calls that mimicked the sounds of the calf’s capsule.

They also use oikomi pipes, which are made of metal that reflects in the water and are used for herding whales, usually around oil slicks.

Despite rescuers’ efforts to get kʷiisaḥiʔis back into the sea, she has instead retreated further into the lagoon.

“Whales are bonded with their families for a lifetime,” Janie Wray, CEO and principal investigator of BC Whales, told The Guardian.

“And I keep thinking about what that calf is going through, because the calf doesn’t understand why its mother is no longer there for her.

“If that happened to one of us, you can imagine what we would go through.

“I really believe that calf is going through something very, very similar right now.”

Rescue efforts have been complicated by the fact that the water only rises high enough for 30 minutes a day to allow the young orca’s escape. The teams are hesitant to feed her because she may end up dependent on humans.

“The reality is that helping feed the whales can result in a relationship with people that is difficult to break,” Simon John, chief of the Ehattesaht First Nation, told reporters.

“But my real concern is that the whale safely leaves the lagoon and reaches its pod.”

They use recordings from the calf’s aunt, Big Momma, so kʷiisaḥiʔis can find their way into the family pod – a method police say has been successful in the past. Times settler.

The calf appeared to be in good health but was still resisting all attempts to leave its mother, according to Bay Cetology, a conservation group.

“Despite our best efforts, the little one has shown us that he is not ready to leave,” Bay Cetology said on a Facebook page. after.

“After a long conversation with Ehattesaht and Nuchatlaht First Nations and DFO on the ground last night, the collective approach for now is to grieve with the little one and return quickly with fresh ideas and spirit. No one is about to give up kʷiisaḥiʔis.”

Members of the Ehattesaht First Nation tribe performed a ceremony to free Spong’s spirit by draping cedar branches over her body and telling stories of the Nuu-chah-nulth people weaving a tale of a whale coming ashore and turns into a wolf before he turns into a wolf. a human.

“It’s really important to remember that we are connected to these animals,” John told The Guardian.

“Being so close and touching her, seeing her calf and being so helpless is hard to describe.”