ZEBALLOS, BC — The orphaned orca calf that was stranded in a remote Vancouver Island lagoon for more than a month swam out early Friday morning, according to the Ehattesaht First Nation.
Around 2:30 a.m. the approximately 2-year-old orca named Kʷiisaḥiʔis swam past the sand bar her mother died on and out of Little Espinosa Inlet.
"After an evening of feeding her, the team ... [was] treated to a long night of kʷiisaḥiʔis breaching and playing at the end of the lagoon near the causeway bridge," the Ehattesaht First Nation posted on TikTok. "And after most everyone had left to get some sleep, the small group who remained stood as witnesses to watch her swim under the bridge and down the inlet."
A team later found Kʷiisaḥiʔis in Espinosa Inlet with the hope she would continue west to open ocean. Kʷiisaḥiʔis translates roughly to mean "brave little hunter."
The 2-year-old calf has been alone in Little Espinosa Inlet after its pregnant mother was beached at low tide and died on March 23.
The pair got into the lagoon by swimming through a narrow and fast-moving channel connecting it to the ocean.
Members of the Ehattesaht First Nation attempted to rescue the orca earlier in April but it proved difficult to catch. Those plans involved trying to corral the female calf into a shallow part of the 3-kilometer lagoon, using boats, divers and a net, before she would be placed in a large fabric sling and hoisted onto a transport vehicle.
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