On the evening of August 24, an orca was spotted on the beach at Nueva Atlantis in central Argentina, stranded and unable to move. The situation was especially precarious because she was stranded on her side, her blowhole dangerously close to being submerged. If someone didn’t do something soon, thiskiller whalewouldn’t survive. But it wasn’t as simple as just rolling her onto her side and giving her a little shove; this is a whale we’re talking about, and this one in particular weighed roughly four tons. This rescue operation was a herculean effort and involved a whole host of citizens, from members of the Argentine Naval Prefecture and Civil Defense to volunteers with Fundación Mundo Marino, a local wildlife rescue group. Rescuers gathered around the orca Friday night, digging frantically at the sand beneath her body so she could get enough room to maneuver back into the ocean. But no matter how quickly they dug, the sand kept sliding back in. They continually splashed water across her body to keep her from drying up as they worked through the night. By the time the sun rose, the clock was still ticking. A front-end loader eventually arrived at the scene, a large sling hanging from its bucket, and they managed to wiggle it beneath the whale’s body until she was safely inside… Then hauled her out to the ocean, where she took off into the white-capped waves without hesitation! “It’s a mixture of sensations,” said one marine official, Florence Speciale, adding the whale looked so weak and cramped that “it seemed impossible to rescue her.” Maybe, if only a handful of people had come to pitch in that day. But no one could just stand by and watch this poor killer whale die if they could do something to help. It took a full 20 hours, but just think how triumphant everyone must’ve felt, after all that effort, to watch this behemoth make her way safely back to sea.
