This incident occurred in the same region of the Alaska coast that was just hit with an 8.2-magnitude earthquake a few days ago.
Boaters in Alaska got quite the surprise when they discovered a 20-foot-long killer whale onshore and stuck between rocks. The mammal was stranded at least four feet above the tide line, according to the New York Times.
Chance Strickland, the captain of a private yacht in Alaska, soon sprang into action. He and his crew came ashore to help the whale. They sprayed the whale with seawater to keep it cool and also to scare the birds away, who could potentially eat it alive.
"I don’t speak a lot of whale, but it didn’t seem real stoked,” Strickland said. “There were tears coming out of its eyes,” he added. “It was pretty sad.”
Wildlife officials later showed up to assist, and when the tide came in the orca was able to float. The killer whale was then returned to sea about six hours later.
This same region of the Alaska coast was hit with an 8.2-magnitude earthquake a few days ago. However, a rep for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the quake did not cause the killer whale to become stranded.
