A young humpback whale beached east of Tow Hill Monday morning (Aug. 20) survived after high tide washed the baby back out into the ocean and its waiting mother.Masset resident Marlene Liddle said about 100 people came out to North Beach Monday to shelter the whale from the sun, dig trenches, or just to see the unusual sight. Even though it was a baby, it was quite large."You could hear the mother," Ms Liddle said. The mother humpback would surface every once in a while from 400 or 500 metres offshore and call to the baby, who would moan in response, she said.By 5 pm the tide was high enough that the whale began swimming out, but then changed direction and started coming back in. Ms Liddle said people rushed into the water to herd it out to sea, and it turned around and swam to its mother. More in the Observer Thursday.