ZEBALLOS, B.C. — A young killer whale swam under a bridge and out of a Vancouver Island lagoon on Friday, finishing her own weeks-long rescue operation to get to the open ocean.

The Ehattesaht and Nuchatlaht First Nations say the team is “ecstatic,” although the two-year-old whale still has to leave the Little Espinosa Inlet to reach the ocean, where it is hoped she’ll reconnect with her family pod.