Stranded killer whale was pregnant, necropsy shows

A necropsy on the killer whale that died after beingstrandedoff northern Vancouver Island shows she was pregnant with another calf.

Marine scientist Jared Towers watched the necropsy on the animal and says the 15-year-old Bigg's killer whale was expecting another calf when she became trapped in shallow waters near the community of Zeballos.

Towers, who's with the research group Bay Cetology, says scientists, area First Nations and volunteersare now focusing their efforts on coaxing the killer whale's two-year-old calf out of the lagoon, but the timing of the tidal waters only offers a daily opportunity of about 30 minutes for the animal to swim out of the lagoon.

He says the young whale, which has been in the area since Saturday, has so far resisted their efforts to leave the lagoon, which included them using speakers sending out audio of whale calls.

Towers says the calf appears healthy and is making regular vocal calls, while it spends much of its time in the deepest part of the lagoon, estimated at about 30 metres.

The Fisheries Department's marine mammal rescue experts have said the goal is to convince the calf to leave the lagoon in the hope that it can reconnect with other members of its family.

Rescue efforts for 'Brave Little Hunter'

The female orca was stranded on shore in Little Espinosa Inlet, about six kilometres southwest ofZeballos, at low tide while a calf swam nearby.

Video of the incident showsdozens of people trying to save the stranded orca.

WATCH | Community mourns dead killer whale:

Killer whale calf stranded after mother dies

5 months ago

Duration 1:47

The race to save an orca calf is underway off Northern Vancouver Island. The calf's mother became beached Saturday and drowned, despite an effort to save her. Stephanie Mercier reports.

EhattseahtFirst Nation Chief Simon John told CBCAll Points Westhost Jason D'Souza the calf is essentially in a lagoon he described as an "inlet that goes into another smaller inlet that goes into a bigger inlet and gets in the ocean ... so it's quite complex, what ithas to navigate in order to get into its pod."

"It's pretty intense work.. just trying to think [of] a way out of it."

He said the calf had been given the namekwiisaiis, which translates roughly to "Brave Little Hunter."

He said he remains hopefulkwiisaiis can be coaxed back to the ocean and reunited with its pod.

"It's about giving it what it needs," he says.

While the circumstances aroundthe stranding remain unclear, Marine Education and Research Society (MERS) a conservation charity basedin Port McNeill speculates the orcamay have ventured ashore during a high tide, possibly for hunting purposes.

In a social media post, the society said the area where the incident took place "is highly influenced by changes in tides."

"When the tide ebbs in this particular spot, it happens very quickly," the society wrote.