A baby river otter who got tangled in nets at a dock in Alert Bay was reunited with its mother after a week in a rehab centre. Photo by Robin Quirk Photo

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Gordon Mellish is convinced the baby otter he helped save nodded and made eye contact with him before returning to her family in the wild.

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A trio of juvenile otters got themselves tangled up in a fishing net at a dock in Alert Bay late last month. Mellish, a retired commercial fisher and carver, and others rushed to help — going to extraordinary lengths to save one that had stopped breathing and appeared to have given up the fight.

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After pulling the otter from the net, Mellish gave it CPR then, when that didn’t do the trick, wrapped his mouth around its tiny nose and mouth and gave it the “breath of life.”

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Alert Bay RCMP officers said it happened on the morning of July 28 at the ‘Namgis Dock in the community on Cormorant Island, off Port McNeill on northern Vancouver Island. Police identified the animals as river otters.

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Earlier in the day, locals heard the animals in distress and went to the dock to investigate. They found three young otters entangled in netting that had been left behind at the dock, which is commonly travelled by wildlife.

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“I got a call from my niece and her husband,” said Mellish from his home in Alert Bay on Tuesday. “They went down to the old breakwater because they thought they could hear children crying and screaming.”

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Gord Mellish, who gave CPR to a baby otter. Photo by Sgt. David Ribeiro-Pereira/RCMP /Handout

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When he realized it was otters, he rubbed fish oil on his hands so his scent would be familiar to the creatures. Two were breathing fine, but a third had to be cut from the net and brought onto the dock, totally unresponsive.

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Five minutes earlier, Mellish said, rescuers had noticed “it didn’t have the strength to hold its head above the water anymore.”

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He did CPR gently on the tiny otter then breathed it back to life. He knew he was making progress when it started having foam come out of its mouth.

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He and the rescuers got the other two otters safely cut from the net, and they swam to their mother waiting nearby — but not before one of them nipped at Mellish’s thumb, leaving a scar on his knuckle that he said required a tetanus shot and will be a reminder of the excitement of that day.

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“I said, ‘Hey, I’m just trying to save you. Let go!’ So he let go, and I rolled him into the water.”

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Meanwhile, the little patient had to be taken to the MARS animal rescue centre in Merville, near Comox on Vancouver Island, for treatment and care.

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Mellish was able to give her a pet before she left, and she appeared to nod to him.

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“It was so neat to have that moment. And then I just told her, ‘Get rest, get better, and make sure you make it back home.'”

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Nearly a week later, the otter was brought back to the dock at dawn, but its mother and siblings weren’t around.

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Const. Nick Gachter assesses the baby otter after CPR prior to placing it in the recovery position on its belly on the ‘Namgis Dock in Alert Bay. Photo by RCMP /Handout

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The rescue team decided to take the otter to the beach and see if she would venture into the water on her own. She did a few turns in the cage then took off. Mellish learned later that she was quickly reunited with her mom and the other rescued otters nearby.