A group of at least 10 killer whales has reportedly been trapped in sea ice off Japan’s northern main coast — with officials saying they have no way to rescue them.
The pod of whales was spotted trapped in the sea ice off Rausu Town in eastern Hokkaido by a local fisherman, who then reported the awful discovery to the Rausu Coast Guard Station on Tuesday morning.
“We have no choice but to wait for the ice to break up and for them to escape that way,” a Rausu official told NHK World Japan.
For now, rescuers cannot approach the orcas because ice flows — large packs of floating ice — are preventing them from reaching the whales.
Officials said a lack of wind in the region may also be a significant factor in why the whales remain trapped.
The ice flows are not dividing as they should to make space for the pod to escape since no wind is helping shift them.
The ice surrounding the coast of Hokkaido is the lowest-latitude sea ice in the world, but officials say that level has declined over the years as the Earth warms.
The organization Wildlife Pro was nearby doing separate marine research when the whales were reported trapped. They were able to capture drone footage of the orcas.
The heartbreaking 40-second video shows the whales struggling up and down from the water between ice flows.
“I saw about 13 killer whales with their heads sticking out of a hole in the ice,” the Wildlife Pro employee who filmed the video told NHK.
“They seemed to be struggling to breathe, and it looked like they included three or four calves.”
Local weather officials fear the flows may be getting larger due to the whales waving up water on them that freezes over, according to the outlet.
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The situation is similar to a 2005 incident where a group of killer whales were also trapped in drift ice off the coast of the town and later died, Rausu town officials told the outlet.
Town officials say they can only hope that the animals can free themselves.
It’s estimated that there are around 50,000 killer whales in the world’s oceans, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Several populations of killer whales have declined in recent decades, and some have become endangered due to overfishing and habitat loss.
The average lifespan for male killer whales is about 30 years, but some surpass that and live up to at least 60 years.
Females typically live about 50 years but there have been cases where some have lived up to least 90 years in the wild, according to NOAA.