A killer whale is stuck on some rocks.
Photo by @whalepoint, Twitter
Killer whale rescued from rocks
Adapted from The Vancouver Sun by Nila Gopaul
Level 2
On July 22, 2015,
cries came from a young killer whale.
The calf was caught on some rocks.
She could not move.
She was crying in pain.
It was a hot day in Hartley Bay, B.C.,
a First Nations community
145 kilometres south of Prince Rupert.
So the whale’s skin was getting dry.
“It was so heartbreaking,” said one woman.
The 11-year-old whale
called out to her family.
Four whales stayed close by.
They circled the rocks.
They stayed all day.
Later, another pod of whales came
into the area.
They waited, too.
Rescuers walked out onto the rocks.
They covered the whale
with wet blankets.
They spent nine hours
keeping the calf cool
with sea water.
They used a small pump
to spray the whale.
First, the young whale was nervous.
Her heart was beating fast.
But soon she was calm.
At around 4:00 p.m.,
the tide came up.
The whale lifted her tail.
She moved backward.
Then she moved forward
and sideways.
After about 45 minutes,
she was on her way.
It was an emotional day.
But it had a good ending.
Vocabulary:
- calf: a young member of the whale family
- pod: a small group of whales (or other marine animals)
- tide: the rising and falling of the sea