Fishing boat lifted out of orca waters after 5 weeks on sea floor

A salvage team successfully lifted the Aleutian Isle onto a barge Wednesday afternoon, more than five weeks after the fishing boat sank into the depths off San Juan Island.

Coast Guard officials say some diesel spilled from the boat as a crane lifted it out of the water. They reported “light sheening” on the surface of Haro Strait near San Juan Island’s Mitchell Bay.

“Some of that sheen did escape beyond the boomed area, but was too light to be recovered,” a Coast Guard Facebook post states.

The salvage team had to pump out all the seawater from the waterlogged vessel to make it light enough to lift out of the sea without breaking apart.

Now they plan to remove remaining diesel from the boat before transporting it to a shipyard.