A 25-metre blue whale stranded in the shallows — and a whole Indonesian shoreline kept her wet until the tide could take her home

On Friday morning, a blue whale about 25 metres long was found stranded in shallow water near Kolong Island, in the 17 Islands Riung marine park in Ngada Regency, East Nusa Tenggara. Local residents, conservation officers and officials worked together through the low tide, keeping the whale's skin wet and watching over her until the sea rose enough to help. The rescue worked: the world's largest animal slipped back into deeper water, alive. Why she stranded is not yet known — but she left with a community's fingerprints, gently, all over the effort.

SDG 14 · Life below water — Mechanism: community action