Orca calf swims free after being stranded in Vancouver Island inlet

A young orca whale, left stranded in a lagoon on Vancouver Island following the death of her pregnant mother, independently ventured out of the area early Friday morning.

Ehattesaht First Nation Chief Simon John confirmed in a statement that the calf made her way out around 2:30 am during high tide. Despite multiple rescue efforts since her entrapment in late March, the calf ultimately freed herself.

“Kwee-sa-hay-is swam past the sand bar her mother passed away on,” Chief John’s statement reads.

Early this morning, after “a long night of playing and breaching,” according to the Chief, favourable conditions of high tide and serene waters allowed Brave Little Hunter to find the strength to navigate out of the lagoon, past Espinoza inlet proper, and into the sea.

The First Nation and DFO team are encouraging the calf to make it out into the open ocean. “It is hoped that the Brave Little Hunter’s calls will now be heard by her family,” Chief John said.

DFO says that two killer whale pods in Barkley Sound could potentially be related to Brave Little Hunter and possibly be reunited with.

For the past month, the calf named kwiisahi?is (or Brave Little Hunter) by the Ehattesaht First Nation has been assisted and nourished by the First Nations community and experts from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).

This two-year-old orca has lingered in the Little Espinoza Inlet near Zeballos, BC, following the death of her mother, Sprong, for close to a month. The 14-year-old Bigg’s killer whale became stranded on elevated terrain in the inlet when the tide receded.

According to DFO experts, Sprong was pregnant and was likely teaching her calf hunting skills in the inlet.

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Since late March, the DFO has tried multiple strategies to urge the orca calf out of the inlet but had struggled to get anywhere.

DFO’s expert on marine mammal rescue, Paul Cottrell, quipped that Brave Little Hunter was “remarkably adaptable to the tools and tactics we have used to date.”

This is a breaking story, more information will be updated once available.