el-
i like it.
maybe you can find the record
on amazon and have dave digitize
it for you and then you can post a
really good copy for us.
that would be a good idea <g>
it would probably arrive the same
time as your ticket to paradise <vbg>
a thee year old grey whale was beached
here in tsawwassen yesterday - our
local vet and his staff and firefighters
spent 8 1/2 hours keeping it alive and
somewhat comfortable waiting for the tide
to come in.
i wasn't aware of it or i would have trekked
out there :( here's the story.
-la
Beached grey whale freed
Firefighters keep mammal cool while volunteers help it take advantage of tide
Darah Hansen
Vancouver Sun, with files from Canadian Press
April 26, 2005
CREDIT: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun
Aquarium staff pour water over the whale's head, keeping it alive until the tide comes in.
DELTA - As a crowd of more than 100 onlookers cheered and shouted encouragement, a stranded juvenile grey whale swam to freedom Monday after being beached for most of the day on the sand off Centennial Beach.
"She's out," Ana-Maria Davies shouted as the seven-metre whale floated off on a rising tide and began moving into the deeper water of Boundary Bay.
By sunset, the whale was spotted swimming with two other grey whales about three kilometres away from the stranding site.
Dozens of volunteers had flocked to the beach to help staff from the Vancouver Aquarium rescue the animal after word got out about 9 a.m. that it was stuck on the sand.
"I just grabbed a bunch of stuff and went out there and said, 'What can I do to help?'" Davies said.
Davies and other volunteers were kept busy digging trenches around the whale while Delta firefighters kept the whale cool and wet with water from a hose they ran from a parking lot over nearly a kilometre of beach.
Tom Huska, a firefighter from Vancouver who was visiting the beach, was one of the first to spot the whale.
"I had a race car tent sitting at home, so we put that up over the whale's head to keep it cool," he said. The animal was also given antibiotics.
David Huff, a veterinarian with the Vancouver Aquarium, said the whale, thought to be about three years old, appeared to be unusually thin and possibly sick. But bloodwork taken from the animal later in the day came back showing no irregularities.
Doug Sandilands of the Vancouver Aquarium speculated the whale may have been caught in the rapid tide change characteristic of that particular stretch of beach. Adding to its troubles was the 17 C temperature.
"It's been a bad day to be a beached whale," Huff said of the unseasonably warm weather.
Huff said the plan was to wait for the tide to come in so the whale could swim to freedom on its own. "That's the best-case scenario," he said.
Crowds gathered all day at the beach, offering support to aquarium workers and volunteers and hoping to catch a glimpse of the whale.
"It's a wonderful piece of God's creation" said Evelyn Murphy of Tsawwassen. "Just look at that animal."
"They are so magnificent it is hard to imagine they can ever need our help," said Gillian Elsey, an assistant at the Huff Animal Clinic in Tsawwassen. "But when they do, I am just so glad we can help."
At 5:30 p.m., as aquarium staff, media and volunteers found themselves waist deep in water, the whale made its first attempts to free itself, slapping its heavy tail fluke and thrusting itself forward a few feet.
"So far so good," Huff said. "We just have to see if she can sustain it."
Twenty minutes later, the whale swam to freedom in the waters off Boundary Bay, with aquarium and coast guard crews on hand to ensure it didn't turn back toward the shore.
At 8:30 p.m. aquarium crews still out on the water said the whale was spotted swimming with two other grey whales about three kilometres away from the stranding site.
Grey whales have been sighted in the area for the last week.
Sandilands said it's not uncommon for grey whales to beach. What was unusual in this case was the animal was found alive. But, as of Monday night, its long-term prognosis was unknown.
Huff said the aquarium will try to monitor the whale's movements, hoping its condition will improve and that it won't roll up on another beach elsewhere.
Huff said he understands people's strong connection to whales. He felt it himself when he arrived at the beach Monday morning and looked into the eyes of the stranded animal, he said.
"At that instant you know where that mysterious and spiritual connection with whales comes from."
Grey whales have one of the longest annual migrations of any mammal. They begin their southward migration in September to winter in lagoons along California and Mexico, and between February and May they migrate to northern feeding grounds.
The grey whale population in the Pacific northwest is estimated at 18,000.
GREY WHALES:
- The grey whale was thought to be about 3 years old.
- Sex has not been determined. o It's about 7 metres long, and thought to be underweight.
- The north Pacific grey whale population is approximately 18,000. In 1999, about 2,000 to 3,000 grey whales died because of poor feeding conditions in the Bering Sea.
- They are bottom feeders, eating things that live in the sand and dirt, such as herring spawn.
- Grey whales are not uncommon in this area. They migrate between Mexico and Alaska, stopping in our area to feed.
Ran with fact box "Grey Whales", which has been appended to the end of the story.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005
.... and picture
canada.com
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