A seven-ton humpback whale became stranded on the coast of Argentina, leaving rescuers with an enormous challenge: somehow return the exhausted animal to the ocean.
The whale washed ashore near Mar del Tuyú, about 200 miles south of Buenos Aires. What followed was a desperate rescue operation that lasted 28 hours.
Rescuers manually dug around the massive whale while heavy machinery was used to clear the surrounding sand. Earlier attempts to free the animal with a mechanical digger were unsuccessful, leaving the team searching for another way.
The whale was extremely weak. Biologist Karina Alvarez said it was able to float but was not moving its tail or pectoral fins, making the situation even more difficult.
Despite the uncertainty, rescuers refused to give up.
A team from the Mundo Marino Foundation continued working around the clock, hoping the whale could still survive if they managed to get it back into deeper water.
Eventually, they found a solution.
Using a special harness attached to a tugboat, rescuers carefully began pulling the enormous whale away from the shoreline and back toward the sea.
After 28 exhausting hours, the moment everyone had been waiting for finally arrived.
The whale began moving away from the coast.
Video from the rescue captured rescuers cheering as the humpback disappeared back into the ocean—a powerful ending to a rescue that could easily have ended very differently
For 28 hours, they had refused to give up on a seven-ton animal.
And in the end, the ocean welcomed her home.