A trio of fishermen in Alaska are being hailed as heroes for rescuing a stranded killer whale in the Klakas Inlet. Jason Vonick, Nick Segal, and John Oakes were getting ready to begin their shrimp fishing season when they noticed a pod of orcas hunting seals near the rocks of the inlet. One of the female orcas became stuck on the rocks accidently beaching herself in pursuit of a seal. The men saw the animal's distress and raced to help. It took the men four hours to free the 16-foot orca from the rocks.
As the trio of fishermen worked to free the whale members of her pod kept circling the female and the men making sure their friend was doing okay. "We realized that she was definitely stuck," Vonick said to ABC News. "For the next four hours we just stayed with her and kept her calm and put water over her to keep her cool." It was difficult for the whale to move, her body weight was holding her in place. Since it was low tied the whale could not move her massive body and float off the rocks.
Vonick told ABC News that as the hours passed the whale's strength began to fade. The fishermen said the orca could hardly hold up her head and was coughing and choking as if she was drowning. Looking for anyway they could help the whale return to her pod the fishermen used their oars to try and set her free. "At that point we stuck the oars under her pectoral fins and just tried to pry her off the rock," Vonick said. "When we realized we could actually move her, we just grunted and groaned and used a lot of force and got her free."
During the rescue Vonick was recording their efforts to free the whale. The video is up on YouTube. The moment the whale was freed was not caught on camera, since it took all three men to move the orca. Holding onto a camera and filming would have hindered the rescue efforts. After ten minutes of prying with the oars the orca was free. Vonick said the whale "just righted herself, took a deep breath and was off." Vonick described the rescue as a once in a life time event.
As the rescue was going on the men felt nervous about the fact that the female's pod keep surrounding them, refusing to leave her. Vonick told ABC, "We felt a little nervous about it because we weren't sure they knew we were trying to help. We were especially nervous the bigger male whale would make a move because he was within five feet of us, but they just stayed right there and watched the whole time."
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