0:000 secondsIf a whale somehow ends up stranded in the middle of a forest, it can't simply lie there and wait to be rescued. In the ocean, buoyancy supports its enormous
0:088 secondsbody. On land, that support disappears and tens of tons of body weight begin pressing down on its chest and internal
0:1515 secondsorgans. Even if there's a body of water nearby, the whale has no way to crawl there on its own. Things become even more dangerous if the whale is lying on
0:2424 secondsits side. A tiny movement that would take almost no effort in the water becomes a serious challenge on land. The whale can't easily roll itself over. Its
0:3333 secondsskin begins to dry out and overheat. And this side pressed against the ground is being crushed more and more under its own weight. For now, the whale is still
0:4040 secondsalive and breathing calmly, but the clock is ticking. The longer it remains on dry ground, the harder it becomes to save. A single strike from a whale's
0:4949 secondstail can carry more than enough force to kill a person. You can't approach it as casually as you might a dolphin stranded on a beach. Even if the whale is
0:5757 secondsexhausted and fighting to survive, it has no idea who the people around it are. As far as the animals concerned, anything approaching could be a threat.
1:051 minute, 5 secondsSo, the first step is to wait until it settles down slightly. Only then can rescuers cautiously approach from the side, keeping a constant eye on the
1:131 minute, 13 secondstail. The most obvious thought is simple. The whale needs water. If you don't get it wet right now, it's going to die. Through the trees, a small lake
1:211 minute, 21 secondsglimmers nearby. Several people grab buckets and rush toward it. Problem solved. On top of the whale's head is a blowhole, and some people assume it
1:291 minute, 29 secondsworks like an enormous nostril or even a mouth. So perhaps pouring water into it will give the whale something to drink.
1:361 minute, 36 secondsBut pouring water into a whale's blow hole won't quench its thirst. It'll make the animal drown. The blow hole doesn't lead to the stomach. It connects right
1:441 minute, 44 secondsto the lungs. Pour enough water into it and within minutes an attempted rescue could end with the whale effectively drowning on dry land. Also, the whale isn't actually dying of thirst.
1:541 minute, 54 secondsSomething far more serious is happening.
1:571 minute, 57 secondsThe whale spends its entire life in cold ocean water. That's why it has such a thick layer of blubber beneath its skin.
2:032 minutes, 3 secondsIt works like a heavy winter coat, trapping body heat and allowing the whale to swim comfortably even in near freezing water. But once on land, that
2:112 minutes, 11 secondssame insulation starts working against it. There's no cold ocean around to carry excess heat away. Instead, the whale begins to overheat inside its own
2:192 minutes, 19 secondsbody. Its temperature slowly rises, and there's almost no way for it to release the extra heat. So, rescuers have to create a makeshift ocean. They bring in
2:282 minutes, 28 secondshuge sheets of fabric. The whales covered almost completely, leaving only the blowhole exposed so it can breathe freely. But fabric alone isn't enough.
2:362 minutes, 36 secondsSmall channels are dug around the animal, and the whale is continuously sprayed with water, preferably cool water. The fabric gradually becomes
2:432 minutes, 43 secondssoaked, and as the moisture evaporates, it draws heat away from the whale's body. Eventually, the entire animal is wrapped in one enormous cooling wrap,
2:522 minutes, 52 secondsslowly helping bring its temperature down. A large canopy is also stretched overhead to block direct sunlight. At this point, the whale may finally get
2:592 minutes, 59 secondssome relief, but the biggest problem is still there. In the ocean, a whale weighs tens of tons, only from our perspective. For the whale, the water is
3:083 minutes, 8 secondsconstantly supporting its body through buoyancy, so its own weight puts very little pressure on it. Its enormous organs are held comfortably in place by
3:153 minutes, 15 secondsthe surrounding water. But on land, all that mass suddenly starts pulling downward. Its lungs compress. Massive muscles put pressure on the internal
3:233 minutes, 23 secondsorgans. Blood circulation gradually deteriorates. The longer the whale remains out of the water, the more its own body weight begins crushing it from
3:313 minutes, 31 secondswithin. And most importantly, breathing becomes difficult. All of its weight is pressing down on its chest. That's why the whale needs to be carefully rolled
3:393 minutes, 39 secondsonto its side, taking the pressure off its rib cage and making it easier for its lungs to work. But you can't do that with a whale. Its body isn't built like
3:473 minutes, 47 secondsthat of a land animal. In the water, its enormous weight is supported from all sides. On land, even a slight change in position can make dozens of tons press
3:563 minutes, 56 secondsagainst its organs in completely different ways. If the whales rolled onto its side, the lower half of its body may come under even greater
4:034 minutes, 3 secondspressure. One lung can become more severely compressed, breathing may become even harder, and circulation can deteriorate further.
4:114 minutes, 11 secondsSo, rescuers usually try to do the opposite. Keep the whale in the most natural position possible, resting upright on its belly. If the ground
4:194 minutes, 19 secondsbeneath it is uneven, shallow depressions can be dug beneath the pectoral fins, so they aren't trapped under the whale's enormous weight and
4:264 minutes, 26 secondscan lie freely. Once all these problems have been dealt with, you still need to get the whale back into the water.
4:314 minutes, 31 secondsPeople bring in heavy machinery, find a thick cable, loop it around the whale's tail, and begin pulling. It looks like the rescue is finally about to succeed.
4:404 minutes, 40 secondsBut in fact, doing this can kill the whale within minutes. The tail is connected right to the spine and to massive muscles built for swimming.
4:484 minutes, 48 secondsThose tissues aren't built to withstand the forces involved in dragging a 30-tonon animal across dry ground. The moment a tractor starts pulling, all
4:564 minutes, 56 secondsthat force is transferred straight to the base of the whale's spine. The vertebrae can begin to shift, muscles can tear, and the skin can literally be
5:035 minutes, 3 secondsscraped away against the ground. In the worst case, the whale's tail could simply be torn off. And even if that doesn't happen, just a few feet of
5:125 minutes, 12 secondsdragging can cause internal injury severe enough to become fatal. So, they need another approach. One option is to place the whale on a massive platform
5:205 minutes, 20 secondsand transport it that way. But that creates almost the same problem. Even on a soft surface, the whale still has to support its own enormous weight. As it's
5:295 minutes, 29 secondshauled through the forest, its internal organs remain under constant pressure.
5:325 minutes, 32 secondsAnd the longer the journey takes, the lower its chances of survival become. So moving the whale isn't an option. But leaving it where it is isn't an option
5:405 minutes, 40 secondseither. That means the only thing left to change is the environment around it.
5:455 minutes, 45 secondsExcavators are brought in. They start digging an enormous pit right beside the whale. The work has to be done with extreme care. One wrong movement of the
5:535 minutes, 53 secondsbucket could seriously injure the animal. Little by little, a deep hollow is created beneath its body.
6:006 minutesThe goal is to recreate at least partially the conditions the whale would have in the ocean. Once the depression beneath it is deep enough, it can be
6:076 minutes, 7 secondsfilled with water. There's a lake nearby in the forest, so powerful pumps are brought in and hoses are lowered into the water. But that doesn't work either
6:156 minutes, 15 secondsbecause a whale is a marine animal. The whale's skin, mucous membranes, and entire body are adapted to life in salt water. If it stays in fresh water for
6:236 minutes, 23 secondstoo long, its skin cells begin absorbing excess water. Its salt balance is disrupted, and bacteria and fungi can penetrate damaged skin much more easily.
6:326 minutes, 32 secondsFor a few minutes, this isn't a major concern. But if the rescue operation drags on, the fresh water itself can become another problem. That's why the
6:406 minutes, 40 secondspit has to be filled with seawater. If the coast is reasonably close, tanker trucks can begin hauling it in. Tens of tons of water gradually turn the
6:486 minutes, 48 secondsexcavated pit into a small artificial pool. Now the whale finally gets some relief. The water begins supporting its body again, dramatically reducing the
6:566 minutes, 56 secondspressure its own weight puts on its internal organs. Its body cools down and its skin no longer dries out. But the whale can't survive for long without
7:047 minutes, 4 secondsfood. Whales feed on plankton. And luckily there happens to be plenty of it in the nearby lake. But it quickly becomes obvious that this isn't going to
7:117 minutes, 11 secondswork. The freshwater plankton is simply too small. There's barely any of it in a single bucket. So, the whale gets almost nothing from each one. To provide even a
7:207 minutes, 20 secondsmeaningful amount of food, rescuers would have to pour thousands, possibly tens of thousands of buckets into its mouth. During a single feeding session,
7:287 minutes, 28 secondsa whale can filter tens or even hundreds of tons of water. So, no matter how many buckets of plankton filled water people carry over, it still won't be enough.
7:387 minutes, 38 secondsSo, if the whale's going to survive, it has to be moved. But a regular tractor isn't going to be able to drag it all the way to the sea. They need something
7:457 minutes, 45 secondselse. A massive transport helicopter arrives at the site. Straps are secured around the whale and an hour later, it's swimming in the ocean again. Except
7:537 minutes, 53 secondsthere's one problem. No rescue helicopter in existence can lift a whale weighing roughly 30 tons. Even the world's heaviest lifting production
8:018 minutes, 1 secondhelicopters can carry only about 20 tons on an external sling. And that's under perfect conditions. Here, the helicopter would also have to carry the heavyduty
8:098 minutes, 9 secondslifting straps, additional equipment, and a supply of water to keep the whale's body wet throughout the flight.
8:158 minutes, 15 secondsSo, instead, rescuers bring in a specialized heavy hall platform with dozens of wheels. A huge padded cradle is placed on top to distribute the whale's weight as evenly as possible.
8:258 minutes, 25 secondsThen, using wide fabric slings, cranes, and inflatable lifting bags, the whale is slowly and carefully transferred onto
8:328 minutes, 32 secondsthe platform. Now it can be finally moved, just not very fast.
8:378 minutes, 37 secondsEven if every road were closed and the vehicle could race toward the coast at 60 mph, the whale would probably never make it there alive. Every bump,
8:468 minutes, 46 secondspothole, and sharp turn causes its massive body to shift. Its internal organs are already under enormous stress, and sudden movement only makes
8:548 minutes, 54 secondsthings worse. So, the transporter moves extremely slowly, sometimes no faster than a person walking. Eventually, the
9:019 minutes, 1 secondroad comes to an end. The ocean is finally in sight. All that remains is to lower the whale back into the water. But the water near the shore is too shallow.
9:099 minutes, 9 secondsIf the whale were simply dropped there, its enormous body could strike the bottom and suffer even more injuries.
9:159 minutes, 15 secondsInstead, several large cranes or specialized floating platforms are positioned nearby. They carefully carry the whale out to water deep enough for
9:239 minutes, 23 secondsthe ocean to fully support its body again. For the first few seconds, the whale barely moves. Then, it slowly takes a breath. Once it can feel the
9:319 minutes, 31 secondswater carrying its enormous weight again, the whale slowly begins to swim back out to sea. And that's why if a giant whale somehow ends up stranded in
9:409 minutes, 40 secondsthe middle of a forest, people might start digging an enormous pit underneath it. Not because they're preparing to bury the animal, but because creating a
9:479 minutes, 47 secondstemporary pool around its body may be one of the few ways to keep it alive long enough to get it back home.