Over three hundred people joined hands to rescue a humpback whale baby that was stranded on a beach just north of Rio de Janeiro. The 32 ft long cub was washed onto the shores of the Rasa Beach in Armaçao dos Buzios, on the afternoon of August 23. The mammal was spotted by some residents of the area. They found the whale alive, but struggling to breathe.
The beach-goers quickly arrived with shovels and buckets and qucikly started digging a trench to the ocean all while pouring water on the whale to keep it alive. Two backhoes were also brought in to help. Finally, boats helped pull and later guide the whale back to sea. Through all of those hours, people formed human chains to gather buckets of water for keeping the stranded animal hydrated.
After its 24-hour ordeal, the 32-foot creature swam away, prompting wild celebrations from the rescuers on the beach. The whole episode was captured on camera. As it swam into the sea, jubilant rescuers, many of the them chest deep in water, were seen crying and shouting with joy as the marine mammal was released into the South Atlantic Ocean.
According to the biologists and environment experts on the scene, Humpback whales migrate off the coast of southern Brazil at this time of year. This whale may have gotten separated from its family and lost.
