The skin of a young killer whale trapped in a Vancouver Island lagoon is turning white due to the low salinity of the water, but the Fisheries Department says the calf is active and isn’t showing signs of emaciation.
The statement issued late Monday says the female calf’s behaviour and activity have remained constant.
It says planning for a rescue operation continues with the Ehattesaht First Nation.
The statement says freshwater in the lagoon has whitened skin on the dorsal side of the calf, but veterinary experts aren’t concerned about the short-term impact.
A statement from the Fisheries Department on Friday says drone images have determined that the calf given the First Nation name Kiisahi?is, or Brave Little Hunter, is female.
It says the calf remains active in the lagoon and crews are monitoring her with minimal disturbance.
It has been trapped alone near Little Espinosa Inlet, about 450 kilometres northwest of Victoria, since March 23, when its pregnant mother became trapped on a rocky beach at low tide and died.
Equipment has been arriving in the nearby village of Zeballos for a complex rescue operation, in which experts plan to use a net to corral the calf into a sling in the shallows of the three-kilometre-long lagoon.
The calf would then be hoisted out and transported to an ocean net pen in open waters, before hopefully being released when her family pod of Bigg’s killer whales is nearby.
The department said last week that a rescue attempt early this week was unlikely.
It said access to the lagoon will be closed to all but essential personnel when the rescue takes place.
Chief Simon John said he expects the Jet Ranger helicopter that the band has for forestry work will be used to look for the calf’s family pod.
John said equipment for the planned rescue has started to arrive in their remote community, located more than 450 kilometres north of Victoria.
A heavy lift machine the First Nation also uses in forestry work was scheduled to arrive in Zeballos over the weekend and could be used in the rescue effort.
John said a large seine net more than 270 metres long arrived from Campbell River on Thursday and is expected to be used to corral the young killer whale in a shallow area of the lagoon, before it’s put in a sling and transported to a pen in ocean waters.
The rescue team is waiting for the arrival of the net pen similar to those used by B.C. salmon farms to house the young orca at a yet-to-be-determined location, John said.
Brett Jensen of Port McNeill, B.C., was in a flat-bottom jet boat near the lagoon shoreline on Friday.
He said it was a “privilege” to be taking part in the rescue operation.
Jensen, who’s a resource manager for Campbell River-based Strategic Natural Resources Consultants Inc., said he was on the water in the tidal lagoon surveying the area in preparation for the rescue attempt.
“To be part of it is pretty special,” he said.
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