A Whale Tale
The Whale Tale
In the morning of October 6, 2006, one of the Islander's, Graham Levy, came across a beached male pilot whale at Long Reef on the Southeast Cove side. He immediately told his wife, Francine, and she began to round up people to go to Long Reef to see what could be done. Lots showed up with buckets, blankets, survival suits, nets, a dory, cameras, etc. A lot of phone calls were made to the Fisheries Dept., Natural Resources, Oceanographic Institute, all of whom said to keep the whale wet from his mouth to his tail. It had to be done gently because a whale's skin is so sensitive. One person monitored the whale's heart rate periodically, which ran from 60 to 80 beats per minute. The whale never thrashed around and was very calm while everyone talked to him and petted him. For many hours the Islanders worked at keeping the whale comfortable while waiting for the tide to rise. A dragger net was worked under him as the tide started to rise. He was measured at between 17 and 18 feet long which would make him approximately 1 1/2 to 2 tons.
At approximately 6 p.m. the tide was high enough for the workers to turn the whale around facing the open sea. After a little while the whale found his bearings, took a big breath and dove under. He was spotted heading east toward Little Tancook about 15 minutes later.
GREAT JOB ALL YOU DILIGENT WORKERS: Scott Webber, Rich McKenster, Kiersten McKenster, the Baker family (Katie, David, Megan and Dylan), Kelly and Judy Crooks, Bonny and Neil Cross, Graham and Fran Levy, Joe Vidito, and Paul Helgesen.
The following people took photos: Alicia Cross, The Baker Family, Kelly Crooks, Scott Webber, Graham Levy, Rick McKenster, Paul and Jane Helgesen, Norma Baker, David Dionne, Bonny Cross and Martha Farrar.
