Fears about a killer whale stranded in drifting ice off the Japanese island of Hokkaido

Fears about a killer whale stranded in drifting ice off the Japanese island of Hokkaido

According to Japanese media, the orca pod on the Shiretoko Peninsula near Rausu got stuck in the ice.

A type of killer whale that is stranded in drifting ice off the coast of Hokkaido, northern Japan, is causing increasing concern for its well-being.

At least ten orcas were seen in footage released by national broadcaster NHK on Tuesday, coming from a tiny opening in the water's surface around 1 km off the shore of Rausu on the Shiretoko Peninsula, a UNESCO World Heritage Site renowned for its rich marine life. renowned for its fauna.

The Coast Guard was informed by a fisherman, but the city said that heavy ice prevented them from attempting to liberate the creatures. According to an official from Rausu, "we have no choice but to wait for the ice to break once and for them to escape that way," NHK was informed.

Expert in marine life Seiichiro Tsuchiya told the station he saw the pod while investigating the local sea lion population. Tsuchiya used a drone to record the suffering creatures.

Near Rausu, a village in northern Hokkaido, a small hole in the drifting ice has caught a pod of roughly ten killer whales. NHK said that "The city can only watch along with hope that the drifting ice breaches up, allowing the orcas to escape."

"I saw about 13 killer whales alongside their heads sticking out of a hole in the ice," stated the man. "It looked like they were struggling to breathe, because it looked like there were three or four calves involved."

Killer whales usually dive for just a few minutes at a time, although the biggest cetaceans may stay underwater for extended periods of time.

Every winter, drift ice covers the sea along the eastern coast of Hokkaido, the major island located farthest north in Japan. Because of the increasing ocean temperatures brought on by the climate catastrophe, there has been less ice in recent years.

According to officials, the ice sheets have not moved much this week due to the absence of wind.

There have been previous incidents of killer whales getting into problems in the region. A number of creatures perished in 2005 after they became stuck in sea ice close to Rausu, a well-liked location for summertime whale viewing.

The lowest point in the Northern Hemisphere where Arctic sea ice may be seen is Shiretoko, sometimes known as "Land's End". The ice comes from 1,000 kilometers distant, in the frigid Amur River in the Russian Far East. The crystals develop into sheets as they travel south over the Sea of Okhotsk, rubbing against one another to create massive slabs of blue-white ice.

According to archaeologists, thousands of years ago, there was enough ice to allow a person to walk from mainland Asia all the way to Hokkaido.