Industry News
A pod of orca whales has been trapped off the Eastern Coast of Hokkaido, Japan. Local officials in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island which is home to ski resorts such as Furano, Niseko, and Rusutsu, reported the heartbreaking situation on Tuesday morning, February 6.
According to footage from a drone, a pod of about 10-13 orcas, including several calves, found themselves surrounded by thick drift ice off Hokkaido. The drone footage showed the marine mammals gathered in a hole in the drift ice, gasping desperately for air. Orcas belong to the dolphin family and can only survive several minutes underwater. The video footage was captured by Seiichiro Tsuchiya, a marine life expert at Wildlife Pro. According to Tsuchiya, the animals were distressed, and several orcas bleeding from their lower jaws, likely indicative of injuries sustained during their escape attempts. Tsuchiya also confirmed another 17 orcas were trapped about two kilometers northeast of the original location on Tuesday afternoon.
The Japan Coast Guard received a distress call early Tuesday morning from a concerned fisherman near the town of Rausu, who spotted an orca approximately one kilometer offshore, surrounded by menacing drift ice, according to the broadcaster’s account. The region surrounding eastern Hokkaido typically witnesses the phenomenon of drifting ice during winter months, though recent trends indicate a decline in ice formation due to rising sea temperatures. Nonetheless, the sudden onset of a cold snap starting Monday, according to the local meteorological observatory, likely led to the expansion of ice floes, obstructing the orcas’ path. The town of Rausu, with only 6,000 inhabitants, had no means of freeing the trapped orcas. Ice breakers of the Russian Navy could have smashed a path to the orcas but have no authority in Japanese waters.
By Wednesday morning, February 7, the orcas had disappeared. Rausu Town officials said they hoped the orcas had been able to free themselves as the ice floes appeared to be loosening on Wednesday morning with increasing temperatures. The town officials said they looked for the orcas for about 90 minutes from about 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday but did not spot them.
In 2005 a pod of whales got trapped in the ice off Hokkaido and all nine killer whales ended up dying. Hopes across the globe are high that the milder temperatures prevalent on Wednesday enabled the marine mammals to escape and that they have not met the same horrific fate as their counterparts 19 years ago.
