Surfers hear a crying baby whale, spend 6 hours saving her

At the break of dawn, as a band of devoted surfers descended upon Boca Barranca, Costa Rica to chase the morning tides, their attention was abruptly seized by an abnormal sight. It was not yet bright when Mauricio Camareno and his colleagues witnessed an anomalous “dark mass” along the adjacent river’s edge.

Moments later, the heartrending cries of a living being emanated from that location, prompting the surfers to investigate. They quickly discovered a juvenile pilot whale stranded about 150 feet down the river. Observing the young whale’s struggle and apparent exhaustion, which inhibited its ability to swim to safety, they resolved to restore her to the sanctuary of the ocean.

“She seemed completely depleted and was unable to stay buoyant,” Camareno shared with Amelia Rueda, a reporter.

But the ordeal was far from over. Given the whale calf’s continued difficulty with swimming, Camareno and his friends elected to remain by her side until she mustered sufficient strength to navigate the waters on her own—a vigil that spanned an arduous six hours. As word spread, a crowd of onlookers formed, and some contacted the Costa Rican Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) and Coast Guard but to no avail, as assistance did not materialize.

“They told us they had protocols in place to ascertain whether the whale was suffering from any diseases. MINAE promised a veterinary visit but throughout our entire wait, nobody showed up,” Mauricio recounted.

Thus, the compassionate boarders resolved to bide their time until the tides turned in favor, ensuring that the frightened juvenile could find her own course out into the expanse. At the culmination of this protracted ordeal, the young whale finally plunged into the inviting depths, her survival a direct tribute to these unsung marine guardians.

Regrettably, the incident of whales facing stranding is not isolated. In a previous situation, an astonishing assembly of around 400 pilot whales was found beached on a New Zealand shoreline. Authorities, along with a legion of volunteers, marshaled efforts to aid these creatures in peril.