6 pilot whales dead, 10 saved after beaching in Cape Breton
File photo.
Digital Reporter
Tuesday, August 4, 2015, 6:30 PM - Sixteen pilot whales beached near Judique, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Tuesday morning, prompting a rescue operation that involved about 20 people, the CBC reports.
Andrew Reid of the Marine Animal Response Society told the CBC ten whales were able to make it to deeper water and survive, while six died.
"There were between one and four people surrounding each whale," resident Maggie MacIntyre told the CBC.
"For as many whales as we could, people were just trying to keep them upright and trying to nudge them out to deeper water."
Volunteers were told they had to keep the whales' blowholes upright, or they would die.
"We were just trying to do what we could until the tide got high — just keeping them upright. And as the tide came in there started to be a bit of a lift, we'd try to push them out into the deeper water," MacIntyre said.
Witnesses say the whales ranged in size, including a baby that was less than a metre long and and adults that were up to 3.5 metres long.
It's not uncommon for pilot whales to become stranded on beaches.
Experts aren't sure why the species is prone to beaching, but suspect it's more common when the whales are feeding or when a member of their group has become beached.
Source: CBC
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