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Whale Rescue in Real Time

The whale appeared to have swum up a river estuary on Bolshoi Shantar Island at high tide and got stuck when the water retreated. Sergei Dolya / Facebook
The local environmental agency warned that the whale’s life could be in danger. “We don't know how to get it back to sea,” the rangers said. Sergei Dolya / Facebook
Photos published on social media on Thursday showed the whale bleeding heavily after injuring its tail trying to wrench itself free. Sergei Dolya / Facebook
National Park rangers on the island risked their lives to approach the whale in a small boat so they could keep it wet and alive until the tide changed. Sergei Dolya / Facebook
The whole country was worried about the fate of the whale. Sergei Dolya / Facebook
In the morning of Aug. 11, blogger Sergei Dolya, who was on the island, wrote in a post on Facebook, "The whale swam free!" Sergei Dolya / Facebook
At night there was a strong tide and the whale was could swim out of the shallows. When the water completely covered him, he swam up to the boat by the shore, paused for a while as if saying good-bye, waved his tail and headed out to sea. Sergei Dolya / Facebook

A 13-meter-long whale was at risk of dying after being stranded on an island in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s Far East on the morning of Aug. 10. While the entire country watched and worried, park rangers took care of the wounded whale.

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