11 killer whales trapped in ice: Canadian villagers hope for rescue

Eleven killer whales are “locked in” by ice in a Canadian bay, with only a small area of open water for them to surface, the mayor of a nearby village said as he appealed for help to save the marine mammals.

A hunter found the killer whales, also known as orcas, on Wednesday morning in Hudson Bay, in northeastern Canada. Two of the orcas appear to be adults; the remaining nine are smaller in size, said Petah Inukpuk, mayor of Inukjuak, an Inuit village home to 1,800, in Quebec. Other reports said there were 12 orcas in the pod.

Killer whales are highly social and typically travel in groups from two to 15, though there can be larger groups, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They are most numerous in colder waters, such as Antarctica, Alaska and Norway, although they can also be found in temperate and tropical waters.

Inukpuk said killer whales were not spotted in the area every summer, but every second or third one. But this is “the first time that they are locked in,” he said.

The winter was unusual this year in that the bay did not freeze up as it normally does at the end of November or beginning of December, the mayor said.

Although the killer whales compete with human hunters for seal meat in an area where there are no supermarkets or grocery stores, Inukpuk said the villagers’ main concern was the orcas’ survival. Many residents have visited the area, which is 20 miles from the village and one mile from the coastline.

“They have a right to survive and hopefully someone will help us to get that (to) happen,” he said. “The weather today is not so cold, so they (the killer whales) may keep the open area as it is by their movements. …

“But tomorrow could be a different story.”