It was a calm afternoon at Bucca 'e Strumpu, when a dark shape landed a few meters from the shoreline. It was a fin whale, visibly disoriented and tired.

The first to notice it were a few swimmers and tour operators. Some were in swimsuits, some in flip-flops, some had just finished a coffee at the kiosk. They looked at each other for a moment, then waded into the water. Within minutes, a spontaneous group of fifteen people had formed around the mammal.

What happened next lasted nearly two hours. The group entered the water and, forming a human chain, managed to push the animal out to sea. But the whale wouldn't stay on course. After a few dozen meters, it turned on itself and headed back toward the beach, running aground again. A scene that repeated itself several times, witnesses say, with the animal increasingly exhausted and the people increasingly determined not to abandon it.

The turning point came with the idea of moving the attempt to the tower's gulf. There, escorted by swimming and no longer just pushed, the whale found its way out to sea. A final breath on the surface, a powerful blow of its tail, and then it disappeared into the blue, heading for the open sea. On the beach, all that remained was applause and fifteen people, wet and embracing, each one with the certainty of having given something back to the immensity.