A person’s life was on the line. This week, hundreds of people assembled on a Rio beach to save a beached humpback whale calf from impending de.ath. When the tide began to rush out to sea, the 32-foot infant, weighing more than seven tons, was unable to leave the shallow waters.
The whale became trapped late Wednesday afternoon at the world-famous Praia da Marina beach in Bzios, Brazil. Dozens of volunteers spent the night with shovels building a tunnel to the ocean, while others sprayed the massive beast in sea water to preserve its skin from drying out.
When high tide came the next morning, a local marina despatched one of its backhoe excavators to help finish the pathway for the whale.
During low tide, Good Samaritans established a human assembly line with buckets from the water’s edge to the whale to keep it moist. Hundreds more others came to the popular beach a few hours later to observe and cheer on r.es.cues.
When the tide came back in, kind Samaritans offered one last push to spare the enormous animal from a protracted and agonizing de.ath. Res.cu.ers were able to put the whale in a large sling and transport the animal back into deeper waters with the aid of the excavator.
The audience applauded and cried as the gorgeous monster came to life in the sea. When the sea pup recovered, it waved its fins and tail as if to say “thank you” to the kind, kind individuals who had saved its life. In the video below, you can see the moment this tiny (large) gorgeous animal was released free.
If only we as humans could band together to help one another as these nice folks did for this whale, the world would be a lot brighter place overnight.
