A rescue group recently had its hands full with a small but feisty whale in Lower East Chezzetcook.
The whale, which was about three metres long, stranded itself on the shoreline Wednesday morning, said Andrew Reid, response co-ordinator for the Marine Animal Response Society, which received calls from residents and the local animal rehabilitation centre Hope for Wildlife.
Most likely the animal, which Reid said was likely a dwarf sperm whale, became confused among the small islands and sandbars in the bay.
“Normally they would be found quite a ways offshore in water that's kind of in the kilometre-deep range -- so out on the (Scotian) shelf -- but this guy seemed to find his way in,” Reid said in an interview Sunday.
Sometimes animals end up beaching themselves because they’re injured or sick but that didn’t seem to be the case this time. The whale had scraped itself on the sand and rocks but otherwise it appeared healthy.
“This animal was full of energy as well, which is a good sign, but it also made things fairly difficult at times just working around it because he thrashed around a fair bit and rolled around so we've just had to be a bit more wary of that,” Reid said.
Four society members walked the whale into deeper waters using a pontoon mat, which had been slipped underneath the animal and then inflated.
The animal was monitored and kept cool the entire time.
Once beyond the sandbars, the response team was met by Fisheries and Oceans Canada conservation officers in a boat. They helped get the animal to deeper water and after it was released was last seen swimming quickly toward the open ocean.
Reid said he believed it was the first time his group had responded to a beaching of a dwarf sperm whale.
Last year a pygmy sperm whale, which is very similar to a dwarf sperm, got into trouble in Halifax Harbour and later was found dead on the shores of McNabs Island.
Reid and other response group members have responded to many whale incidents over the years but he said the satisfaction of helping an animal in distress never gets old.
“Oh definitely,” he said. “And every situation, every incident is different. . . . Like this animal was quite feisty for its size. Oftentimes . . . even larger whales, like pilot whales, are quite docile compared to this animal. So it was a bit of a different experience -- this guy was not too happy that we were around.”
