‘We stripped down to our briefs’: Good Samaritans rescue stranded pilot whales on N.S. beach

When three pilot whales were trapped too close to shore in Cape Breton, two men jumped in to help.

Mark Rankin and his friend Grant Cameron were never expected to get up close and personal with pilot whales when they started their day on Tuesday.

“We were headed over to Port Hood Island to winterize a friend’s cabin for him,” Rankin said on Wednesday.

When they got onto the Island around 9 a.m. they found three pilot whales that had gotten too close to shore and were struggling to get back into deeper water.

A friend on the scene told them the Department of Fisheries and Oceans had been called.

However, with low tide approaching and time appearing to be of the essence, the two men decided to see if they could help.

“So, we stripped down to our briefs and did the best we could,” Rankin said with a laugh. “We got the first one out without too much issue. The second one, he took a little longer to come around, but we got him out into deeper water.”

The head of the Marine Animal Response Society (MARS) said their team was on the way from Dartmouth, N.S., when it was called off because members of the public had managed to help the whales first.

“We had a team that was coming with our appropriate response gear and equipment, and also Fisheries and Oceans were sending a team down,” said Tonya Wimmer, MARS executive director.

While this particular situation appears to have had a good outcome, Wimmer added there are normally safety concerns when it comes to approaching large wild animals.

“It worked out well in this case, that they got the animals pushed back in and nobody got hurt but that could be a very different case given how big and powerful these animals can be,” said Wimmer, noting the fact people were willing to help shows the passion and compassion people have for marine animals that may be in distress.

Rankin said it was a memorable moment to be close to an animal of that size.

“To be able to touch them and look into their eyes, that’s kind of what got us I think and made us do the right thing,” Rankin said. “Hopefully we did the right thing.”

When asked how he feels about potentially saving the whales from beaching, Rankin largely shrugged it off, figuring other people in their situation might have done the same thing.

“We feel pretty good about it, and if nothing else we’ll get a good laugh out of being on the news in our underwear,” said Rankin.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page