Rescue crews in Nova Scotia on Thursday saved a pod of 14 pilot whales beached beached off the town of Bayfield near Antigonish, the second time this week that local citizens have banded together to free a beached pod.
When the whales first got stuck Wednesday evening, locals quickly took action. The Marine Animal Response Society, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Bayfield fire department and locals rushed to the scene, pushing whales into shallow water where they were monitored overnight.
The whales beached themselves again Thursday morning before the rescue squad got them back out into deeper waters.
About 100 people – including dozens from the Bayfield community – helped rescue the whales.
On Tuesday, residents of the town of Judique on Cape Breton Island freed 10 whales who got trapped on the shore. Six others died.
The president of the Marine Animal Response Society, Tonya Wimmer, said there was a possibility some of the whales saved Thursday were the same as those in Judique, but that this was likely a different group.
Ms. Wimmer said there had already been sightings of whales milling off Bayfield when the Judique stranding was underway.
The cause of Thursday’s stranding was unknown, but Ms. Wimmer said one whale may have been sick and led the others astray, or the whales could have simply misjudged the tides.
Ms. Wimmer said it’s unusual to have two major rescues in one week.
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