An unprecedented attempt to rescue a sick, stranded killer whale and reunite her with her pod is set to take place on Thursday.
The one-tonne female orca, thought to be less than two years old, became separated from her pod in Canada after her mother died. She was first spotted just off the coast of Seattle, US, in January, and she has remained in the busy shipping lanes since.
Recent sightings show she is emaciated and suffering from skin lesions and other symptoms of poor health. Local marine mammal experts say she is in danger of being hit by a boat or starving to death.
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The rescue team intends to snare Springer, as she has been nicknamed, using a 10-metre square net pen, or to lift her by sling into a barge. She will then undergo about two weeks of medical treatment before being transported 400 kilometres north to the Johnstone Straits in Canada.
鈥淭hese situations always raise questions as to whether to let nature take its course or whether to interfere. In this case, the experts must be confident of successful reintroduction or they wouldn鈥檛 attempt it,鈥� Phil Hammond, a population ecologist from the Sea Mammal Research Unit at Aberdeen University, told 快猫短视频.
Very close
The whole operation must be completed by the end of July, before the pod prepares to leave the Johnstone Straits.
Killer whales have previously been moved between captivity and the wild. But this will be the first attempt to move a whale from the wild, to reunite it with its pod.
Killer whales can live for about 90 years in stable, tight-knit family communities. A pod鈥檚 membership only changes when a whale is born, dies or when a mature male leaves to join another pod.
The northern orca pods are 鈥渁mong the most observed in the world, so we know when a female is pregnant and when one is born,鈥� Hammond says. 鈥淭he pods are very close and stable so it is likely that she will be accepted back in.鈥�