Pod Of Orca Whales Trapped In Sea Of Ice Off Japan's Coast, Officials Say They Have "No Choice But To Wait"

A pod of 10 orcas, also known as killer whales, has been trapped in sea ice near northern Japan, and the officials are finding it very difficult to rescue them. Citing information from Japan's public broadcaster NHK, CNN said the whales are trapped by sea ice off Japan's northern island of Hokkaido. The pod was first spotted by local fishermen who informed the authorities. Officials from the coastal town of Rausu said they have found no way to rescue them, the outlet further said.

"We have no choice but to wait for the ice to break up and for them to escape that way," an official told NHK World Japan.

The researchers are also not able to reach the orcas due to the large packs of floating ice. Since there is no wind, the ice packs are not moving so that space can be made for the pods to escape.

It is not clear how the orcas were caught in such a situation.

The Coast Guard in Rausu was first informed about the whales on Tuesday morning, when a local fisherman contacted them. Wildlife Pro LLC, a local organisation, then sent a drone to the location to capture the trapped whales, as per the CNN report.

The organisation said it encountered the whales while doing marine research, according to a statement on Facebook.

"I saw about 13 killer whales with their heads sticking out of a hole in the ice. They seemed to be struggling to breathe, and it looked like they included three or four calves," a Wildlife Pro LLC employee, who captured the footage, told NHK.

The ice around Hokkaido is the lowest-altitude sea ice in the world, but officials said the level has declined over the years due to global warming.

A similar situation was reported in 2005 when a group of killer whales was trapped in drift ice off the coast of the town and later died.