What was supposed to be a normal day at the beach for this family turned into a rescue that saved their lives. They were enjoying the day in Canada on the banks of the St. Lawrence River when they came across an animal that needed help right away. A baby beluga whale got separated from its mother and ended up on land. But thank goodness, these caring people saved its life!
Nicholas Milliard, who was 15 years old, played on the beach with his younger brother when they saw the small animal struggling on the sand. The baby beluga was only a few hours old, but its mother was nowhere. It depended on these two brothers to keep it alive. But they did what they could!
“We dug a hole so water would gather and its skin would get wet,” Nicholas, who is 15 years old, told CBC News. “Every five minutes, a bucket of water was brought to us. The water level was going down, making it harder and harder to get water.”
The parents then joined their sons, and together they kept the helpless beluga whale alive until help arrived. A rescue team from the Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals was there within a few hours to help.
Beluga mothers usually feed and care for their babies for about two years, so it was important for this baby, who was only a few hours old, to find its mother or another female who could feed it. So, the rescue team put it back into the water slowly and took it to some ponds with beluga whales hoping that it would get lucky. They also took skin samples to help them find it.
But it will never be known if the baby beluga will or has found its mother. The president of the Research and Education on Marine Mammals said, “Right now, we don’t know how the story will end.” Still, these kids and their parents in Quebec were so dedicated that the stranded sea creature got a second chance.
Watch the video below to learn more about this rescue!
