A group of killer whales were hunting seals off the remote coast of British Columbia, Canada when one of the orcas suddenly found herself in a life or death situation.

Suddenly, the orca found herself stranded and stuck on an outcropping of rocks. She was in incredible pain as her body was trapped on the sharp rocks, and she was exhibiting all signs that she was in distress.

When George Fisher heard a sailboat call in about the whale, he gathered a team of volunteers to go rescue her. When rescuers came upon the whale, they did everything they could to comfort her. It broke their hearts to hear her screaming in fear and pain. It was clear that she did not have much time, as her skin was drying up the more time she was out of the water.

The whale started to calm down when the team covered her with wet blankets and poured salt water on her. Hermann Meuter is a whale researcher who volunteered to help with the rescue.

“I think she knew that we were there to help her,” Meuter recalled.

At first, the plan was to tie a rope or harness around the whale and pull her back to the sea. However, since she was stuck on sharp rocks, they realized that this would kill her. The only option for the volunteers was to keep the whale calm as they waited for the tide to rise.

The team of volunteers spent eight hours using hoses, buckets, and huge soaked comforters to keep the whale calm. Finally, when the tide rose high enough to cover the rocks, the whale was able to swim away!

We applaud these rescuers for doing whatever it took to save this whale’s life! Watch the rescue unfold in the video below!