According to rescuers, the seven-ton whale measured 28 feet long.
It was a community effort to return a beached humpback whale to the ocean. The seven-ton male washed up on a beach in the Buenos Aires province of Argentina.
Rescuers say it measured 28 feet long. It was spotted by locals who banded together to come to its rescue.
First, a group tried to collectively push the whale back out to sea, but they weren’t making much progress. That’s when heavy machinery was brought in.
Ropes attached to a backhoe were tied around the whale in hopes of lifting it enough so that it might start to float back into deeper water during high tide.
The whole effort took hours, but these determined rescuers were in it for as long as it would take to help this animal.
After a while, it was free and on its way back to the Atlantic Ocean.
Conservationists say they don’t know what caused the whale to become beached, and they hope other whales won’t follow suit.
