Blue heron with toe caught in large oyster rescued off Vancouver beach

A blue heron with its toe trapped in an oyster shell was rescued and treated at a Maple Ridge animal hospital on Saturday, May 3. (Courtesy: Dewdney Animal Hospital)

A blue heron that was spotted in distress in the water off Vancouver’s Stanley Park on Saturday has been rescued—and what caused its injury may come as a surprise.

A marine mammal biologist found the bird, which appeared to be trapped between some rocks, according to Dr. Adrian Walton at Dewdney Animal Hospital, who posted a video about the rescue on social media. He said that with the tide rising, time was running out.

But when members of the B.C. Wildlife Response Team arrived, they found out the culprit was an 18-centimetre oyster clamped onto the bird’s toe.

The rescuers brought the heron to the animal hospital in Maple Ridge to get the oyster removed.

Walton gave the bird pain medication and injected fish anesthetic into the oyster shell. He then used a tool to pry open the oyster and set the heron’s talon free.

Ligaments in the bird’s toe were torn, and it was fitted with a splint and transferred to the Wildlife Rescue Association of B.C. on Sunday to recover.

“Its not every day that Dewdney has to patch up an injured animal after vicious oyster attack,” Walton wrote in the social media post. “It got shellfish and clammed up, which really shucked.”