Four killer whales who were trapped in ice off the Far East coast of Russia have been freed after a dramatic eight hour rescue mission.
The incident happened in the Sea of Okhotsk off Sakhalin Island, where huge blocks of ice appear to have trapped the three adult whales and one calf, as a result of bad weather conditions.
Fishermen from nearby Kotovo heard the orcas’ cries of distress late on the evening of April 19, and discovered them some 400 metres from the shore.
Scroll down for video
Four killer whales became trapped in hard ice off the Far East coast of Russia, near the Sakhalin Islands, where their cried were heard by local fishermen, who said this has never happened before
The fishermen called the emergency services, who immediately sent a boat to help break up the ice, and chipped in with hooks and ropes to dislodge and move the animals successfully
Surprisingly, the incident was the first of its kind in the area, and the men from the fishing farm were caught unaware of how to respond.
However, the Ministry of Emergency Situations mobilised quickly, and sent a ship to help move the ice, and free the orcas from the perilous situation.
Three of the whales could flop in and out of the water, but one almost drowned when it became trapped underneath the ice, and couldn’t get access to air. In these circumstances, the animals can drown quickly.
The rescue workers succeeded in turning it over to allow it to breathe.
Eventually, the three smallest whales were freed, but the largest one – around 7 metres in length – remained trapped for some time more.
RT reports the local emergency ministry said: ‘The rescuers and volunteers that stayed near the animal at night covered it with tarpaulin to reduce heat loss and pushed away the ice floes that could hurt it.
‘At around 6am local time, the rescue operation successfully ended. Willy reached the open sea.’
The rescue workers also treated one of the whales for wounds it had incurred during the ordeal.
The whales are often found in the cold waters in this region of the Pacific Northwest, off the Russian coast
Troublesome weather conditions are believed to have moved ice into the path of the animals, trapping them
Killer whales can be found in many parts of the world, but they are highly concentrated in areas of colder water, along northern Norway’s coast in the Atlantic, the higher latitudes of the Southern Ocean, and in the Pacific Northwest, where this incident occurred.
One of the fishermen who was first on the scene said: ‘Usually orcas pass by our farm every spring. This time they weren’t able to pass through the region due to the strong wind, which moved a lot of ice towards the shore.’