The group of 15 pilot whales was first discovered stranded on the Island of South Uist, Scotland, early in the morning on Friday last week. Since the island was on total lockdown with no Covid 19 cases reported yet, the British Divers Marine Life Rescue could not to attend to the case directly.
Local fishermen, however, were able to successfully refloat eight of the animals back into deeper water by the afternoon. By that time, five of the remaining seven had sadly died, with the remaining two – a mother and a calf – in a position impossible to approach. Simultaneously, BDMLR was in close contact with the fishermen themselves and the local authorities, and was allowed permission for a small team from the neighboring islands to be sent over.
Luckily so, because by the next morning, the surviving pilot whales had restranded on rocks in a narrow cove. With the help of locals and the coast guard, they pushed the animals back into the water repeatedly until they stayed off the rocks. In the meantime, the last stranded animal of the previous day was assessed and herded back into the water. Due to all the distress, though, the pond began to restrand once again and pushing them back into the water had to start all over. However, with the separated animal from earlier back with the pond, they started to regroup and with the healthier ones out first, they began to call out to the others so they would follow. Eventually, the whole group headed back out to sea.
Two boats were used to herd the groups back through the narrow channel and beyond the dangerous shorelines into deeper water. Finally, the pilot whales started to swim faster and dive deeper, heading out into save waters between the islands.
BDMLR is highly thankful for the work and cooperation of locals, authorities and businesses to facilitate this happy ending against all odds.
The story can be found in several updates on their Facebook page.
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