A rescue operation to release a family of four killer whales from shallow waters off Far East Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula is continuing for the second day, emergency officials said Thursday.
Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said Wednesday the two orcas and two calves were caught in a low tide in the Sea of Okhotsk.
Video published on the ministry’s social media account showed rescuers dousing the animals in buckets of water to help them breathe.
“The animals are being moved to a deeper place so they can swim to the open sea at high tide. It’s being done manually because the bottom of the estuary is covered with silt and is unapproachable by machinery,” the ministry wrote.
It said more than two dozen employees and volunteers were involved in the rescue operation.
On Thursday, Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said the animals were still stranded approximately 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from where they were initially found.
“The tide should be coming in soon and hopefully the orcas will be able to find their way home,” said Alexander Borisov from the ministry’s Kamchatka rescue center in an audio message.
Regional emergency chief Sergei Lebedev said the high tide was expected at 9:02 p.m. local time (12:02 p.m. Moscow time).
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