Orca calf stranded in Canadian lagoon will be airlifted out, rescuers say

An orphaned orca calf in a lagoon near Zeballos, British Columbia (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press via AP)

Plans are under way to airlift a stranded killer whale calf out of a remote tidal lagoon off northern Vancouver Island in an effort to reunite the young orca with its extended family, Canadian authorities said.

Canadian Fisheries Department and First Nations officials said the plan involves placing the two-year-old calf into a sling, lifting it out of the lagoon by helicopter and putting it in a net pen in the ocean while they wait for its family pod to be near before release.