Endangered beluga whale rescued from N.B. river, returned to St. Lawrence Estuary
BATHURST, N.B. — A young beluga whale that lost its way in a northern New Brunswick river has been rescued in a unique and complex operation that saw the endangered marine mammal travel by land, air and sea before being reunited with a pod in its natural habitat.
“We put him back in the St. Lawrence near a pod of belugas and he started to swim right away,” Marie-Eve Muller with the Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals said Thursday evening. “He seemed quite vigorous back in the water.”
The juvenile male whale waded into New Brunswick’s Nepisiguit River weeks ago, likely following a school of fish or an impulsive teenage drive for adventure.
The beluga — about two metres long — appeared healthy but showed no sign of leaving the river on his own.