The DFO says a marine mammal response team is using reflotation equipment and a vessel to assess the situation Article content A pair of grey whales that found themselves beached Friday in Boundary Bay have begun to make their way out to deeper water. Marine mammal rescuers spent much of Friday afternoon working to free the whales, a mother and her calf, after the two were found partially stranded near Centennial Park during a low tide. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Grey whales stranded in Boundary Bay freed, headed for deeper water Back to video Dan Bate, a spokesman for Fisheries and Oceans Canada Pacific region, said the DFO was using reflotation equipment and a vessel to assess the situation. As the tide returned, the whales were eventually able to move by themselves, and now it would appear that they are out of danger. The DFO’s marine mammal rescue team remains at the scene, keeping an eye on the animals as they reorient themselves, and ensuring they don’t re-strand themselves. Bate urged curious onlookers to keep their distance while rescuers work. “We would like to encourage the public to stay at least 100 metres away to ensure public safety,” Bate said. Vancouver Aquarium spokeswoman Deana Lancaster said a team from their Marine Mammal Rescue Centre headed to Boundary Bay to help the DFO. News 1130’s traffic team filmed the stranded whales around 4 p.m.<doc-sep>Send this page to someone via email Two grey whales have been rescued after getting beached in South Delta Friday. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said the whales were discovered “partially stranded” in low tide off Centennial Park in Boundary Bay just before 4 p.m. Officials from the Vancouver Aquarium said the whales are a mother and her calf. The DFO said the whales were still alive when they were found, launching a rescue mission to get the animals back into the water with help from Delta police officers. “They just went too far and got caught up in the tide,” DFO’s marine mammals coordinator Paul Cottrell told Global News soon after the whales were discovered. Story continues below advertisement Our @vanaqua Marine Mammal Rescue team is on site at Boundary Bay, as DFO monitors trapped mother and calf grey whales. Tide is coming in now, so the hope is they will soon be able to swim away. pic.twitter.com/a2OsPvcjRj — Ocean Wise (@OceanWise) May 11, 2019 “The tide has just changed so we’re going to assess that going forward, and hopefully be able to refloat them and get them back into deeper water.” Cottrell added several people were in the water getting a look at the whales, and warned those spectators to stay at least 100 metres back for their safety. WATCH: The tide is coming in and things are looking good as rescue workers look to save two grey whales that got stuck near Boundary Bay. Catherine Urquhart reports. 1:17 Signs of progress in rescue of beached grey whales near Delta Signs of progress in rescue of beached grey whales near Delta – May 10, 2019 “[The whales] are likely quite agitated right now, so any sudden movement could make the area very unsafe,” he said. A containment area was set up to keep people out. Story continues below advertisement One witness said they were able to wade out far enough to see the animals up close. WATCH: Sophie Lui reports on the rescue operations before the tide started to come in 0:40 Rescue underway for two beached grey whales near Delta Rescue underway for two beached grey whales near Delta – May 10, 2019 “It looked like one of them was breathing every 10 minutes or so I think,” Rob Amar said. “The tide came up to my waist when I was out there, so hopefully it all works out.” DFO marine mammal rescue crews used re-flotation devices to try and move the whales further out from the shallows. Positive signs for two whales beached here at Centennial Beach @GlobalBC pic.twitter.com/3KU1SHQDVJ — Catherine Urquhart (@CUrquhartGlobal) May 11, 2019 WATCH: Grey whales spotted in Metro Vancouver 0:55 Grey whales spotted in Metro Vancouver Grey whales spotted in Metro Vancouver – May 10, 2019 By 6:30 p.m., the tide had come in enough that the whales had started moving again, but it wasn’t yet clear whether they were able to swim out to deeper waters. Story continues below advertisement Closer to 8 p.m., the slightly dazed whales were making their way back into the ocean fully freed. Several grey whales have been spotted foraging in shallow waters in the Boundary Bay area recently, and DFO is urging people to keep their distance on the water as well. Boaters, kayakers and paddle boarders! If you’re in the waters near #WhiteRock beach and see a grey whale 🐋, lucky you! Make it lucky for the whale too – keep your distance and don’t chase or surround the animal. Our #FisheryOfficers are patrolling. https://t.co/cKCsTVurQl pic.twitter.com/omz6YQmt0g — DFO Pacific (@DFO_Pacific) May 9, 2019 On Thursday, grey whales were spotted near White Rock and in the Indian Arm between Belcarra and Barnet Marine Park. —With files from Robyn Crawford and Catherine Urquhart<doc-sep>It just might be the happiest whale tale since Free Willy: a pair of grey whales stranded on the low-tide mudflats of Boundary Bay in B.C. 's Lower Mainland have escaped. A rescue effort sprang into action Friday afternoon after the two whales — a mother and a calf — became beached near Centennial Park in Boundary Bay in Delta about a 40 minute drive south of Vancouver. Fisheries and Oceans Canada led the effort with refloatation devices — large, inflatable airbags to lift the animals up — and a vessel. The Vancouver Aquarium was also on scene to handle any medical setbacks the animals may have suffered. "It's absolutely fantastic," said Martin Haulena, the Vancouver Aquarium's head veterinarian. "A very, very good ending." Haulena said the animals got stuck at approximately 2 p.m. PT. They were freed by about 6:30 p.m. Fortunately for them, the tide was coming in to help their escape. A cheer rose from about 100 assembled onlookers as the whales began to move freely, flapping their fins. Watch as the whales begin to right themselves in the rising tide: Whales get free in Delta, B.C. CBC News Vancouver at 6 0:34 After being stranded for much of Friday afternoon, a grey whale and her calf start to right themselves in the rising tide of Boundary Bay. 0:34 Dangerous position Haulena said Boundary Bay — a wide, shallow bay straddling the Canada-U.S. border — is a place where grey whales could easily get stranded. He described the animals as bottom feeders: they skim along the ocean floor filtering organisms from the sandy bottom through their mouths. He thinks they were likely foraging when the tide went out and became stuck. As the tide rolled in the whales began to flap their fins and get free. (CBC) Once out of the water, he continued, their large bodies put them in danger. "They were never designed to bear weight," he explained. "That can compress their lungs. They can't breathe right. Their circulation gets very altered ... it's a very big deal potentially." He added that the whales are not out of the woods yet. If they were injured too severely by their ordeal, they may still die. Rash of beachings Friday's dramatic scene is one that has been happening all over the west coast of North America this year as an unusual number of grey whales have become stranded and died on their migration from their southern calving waters in Mexico to their northern feeding waters. Some researchers are pointing to a lack of food as the cause. Haulena said beachings tend to happen cyclically, with some years being worse than others, but agreed the population may be exhausting its food sources.<doc-sep>
Two grey whales stranded in B.C. 's Boundary Bay, headed back out to sea:DFO Article content DELTA, B.C. — The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says a grey whale and its calf that became stranded in Boundary Bay, south of Vancouver are now headed back out to open sea. The DFO announced the good news on Twitter late Friday night, hours after a marine mammal response team was sent in with a vessel and refloatation equipment to try to help the whales get back into deeper waters. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Two grey whales stranded in B.C. 's Boundary Bay, headed back out to sea:DFO Back to video The Vancouver Aquarium said its head veterinarian, vet technicians and staff from its Marine Mammal Rescue Centre were also in the area to provide assistance. The aquarium’s operator Ocean Wise had earlier said on Twitter that the tide was coming in and it was hoped the pair of whales would be able to swim away. The Fisheries Department thanked the aquarium and the response team for their help in assisting the mother and calf after the whales were spotted near Centennial Park, in Delta, B.C., not far from the U.S. border. There have been several report of grey whales washing ashore along the North American coast this year as the whales make their annual migration north from Mexico to Alaska. Experts have said several of the whales have died from malnutrition, although others have been struck by ships. (With files from the Associated Press)