‘We are compassionate’: Stranded orca calf grips heart of Vancouver Island town

The small community of Zeballos has fully invested itself in the unfolding rescue effort for an orca calf, which could occur this week officials say.

Just after 10 a.m., Yvonne Malanfant finishes brewing a fresh pot of coffee and placing a plate of homemade quesadillas with a side dish of spicy mayonnaise on a table for everybody to share.

A little bell above her door rings to announce the arrival of another local to pick up their mail and catch up on recent events.

Customer traffic at the small Canada Post outlet at Zeballos, B.C., has been extra busy over the past two weeks, as residents gather to talk about the drama unfolding in a nearby tidal lagoon where efforts are underway to rescue a stranded killer whale calf that tragically lost its mother.

“This is incredible,” says Malanfant, the postmistress for the community of about 200 residents. “It’s pretty incredible what’s going on. It’s made the news every night.”

Zeballos, located at the end of a gravel logging road more than 450 kilometres northwest of Victoria, has fully invested itself in the unfolding rescue effort, which could occur this week.

Hunters, loggers, fishing guides and the area’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents all say they are deeply concerned about the plight of the two-year-old orca calf, left alone without its mother in Little Espinosa Inlet since March, and a rescue attempt can’t come soon enough.

“We are compassionate people,” said one resident who participated in earlier unsuccessful attempts to coax the two-year-old female calf to leave the lagoon through a narrow, swift-moving channel leading to the open ocean.

James Rothenburger makes his living on the waters surrounding Zeballos on northern Vancouver Island, and said despite the long-shot odds facing the young orca, every attempt should be made to get her out of the lagoon.