Overnight, news reported a pod of at least 10 orcas was stuck in drift ice off the coast of Japan.
Watch:
A pod of at least 10 orcas are trapped by sea ice off the coast of northern Japan, drone footage from Tuesday morning shows. https://t.co/FdLkwx3lNT pic.twitter.com/hFeL1GH0m7
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 7, 2024
The situation was dangerous, back in 2005, a similar sized pod of orcas died after being stuck in the same area.
But the good news? It's believed the orcas are free.
Trapped orcas escape from drift ice near Japan https://t.co/uLKMWHCnDH
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) February 7, 2024
A pod of around a dozen killer whales trapped by drift ice in waters off Japan's northern island appears to have successfully escaped, officials say.
The stranded orcas were spotted by a fisherman earlier this week, almost a kilometre off Hokkaido.
Drone footage showed the animals packed closely together and sticking their heads out of the water to breathe.
That sparked an official response - with officials travelling to the seaside town to monitor the whales.
The footage was also shown on Japanese TV, prompting a wave of public concern for the animals this week and calls for government assistance.
One environmental group even petitioned the Japanese government to deploy an ice breaker to help free the trapped orcas.
Some good news.
Twitter/X users pointed out the obvious:
Damn that global warming!
— Brad (@FromTheTwits) February 7, 2024
We've been told the icebergs are melting.
We thought they would lead us in the great revolution against our capitalist overlords but look at these dummies. What fools we were. https://t.co/ES9Y7xu5pP
— Just some nerd (@fatduderick) February 7, 2024
But remember the orcas that were systematically attacking boats off the European coast?
BRUH SAVE THEM https://t.co/qF8WW4Kb33
— lucy ❋ 📖 (@swiftsmirrors) February 7, 2024
They tried, but the ice was too thick.
But the globe still is boiling?
— NOfP-X (@NOfPPlus) February 7, 2024
That's what they're telling us.
Man, good thing the world has a fever.
— Wynn Duffy 🇱🇹 🇮🇱 (@WynnDuffyOG) February 7, 2024
Al Gore said so.
But there was also much rejoicing.
The orcas are free! ☺️ https://t.co/lCWZnqbrXB
— Mizz Marsha (@MizzMarshaS) February 7, 2024
They made a movie about this. Or something similar.
https://t.co/s7xt0XWRBK pic.twitter.com/mEkdnWEyil
— Nightshift Worker (@NightshiftWorkr) February 7, 2024
Yeah, a sign of relief.
That footage from the other day of the trapped orcas was seriously stressing me out. Thank goodness they got out. https://t.co/YwmIbCVwL4
— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) February 7, 2024
It's stressing to see them struggle and it would have been awful to see them die.
Good news. Now they are free to attack more yachts. https://t.co/TKtNBh9i7Q
— Darryl Wharton-Rigby ダリル・ワートン-リグビー (@whartonrigby) February 7, 2024
And they will, if you tick them off.
https://t.co/qnocOruAed pic.twitter.com/aAgdrmC5g4
— Mr. Astro (Ted Era) (@_CRSCNDLLS_) February 7, 2024
Hallelujah, right?
Thank goodness. This was giving me anxiety yesterday. https://t.co/CuQ90kK7aH
— Johnny (@JohnnyMOrtiz) February 7, 2024
You and many other people.
Yay! This makes me so happy! https://t.co/LZhAGLlJrk
— Kelly (@CrookedHalo) February 7, 2024
Makes us happy, too.
JUST IN: A pod of orcas that appeared to be trapped by drift sea ice off Japan's main northern island of Hokkaido has seemingly escaped the icy enclosure, according to a local official. https://t.co/RLzcTSThkp pic.twitter.com/HTxu2wR6js
— ABC News (@ABC) February 7, 2024
Local officials were keeping an eye on them.
Thanks for the positive update. Nature prevails.
— Alan (@nextonetwothree) February 7, 2024
Nature always prevails. One way or another.
How does this happen? Orcas can dive like 1,000 feet down. The ice isn’t that thick. Just go down and around. https://t.co/UdgLNEK2n1
— Eric Lloyd (@EricLloyd) February 7, 2024
We don't know how it happened. They're whales.
https://t.co/7lzCBuCile pic.twitter.com/jabnYL30iq
— Sound the Dread Alarm (@_ThisJustin_) February 7, 2024
+1000 for the 'Star Trek' reference (even though it was humpback whales).
Over the last few days, our eyes have been on a pod of #orcas that heartbreakingly got trapped in the ice off northern #Japan.
— Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) (@whalesorg) February 7, 2024
However, as of today, search teams can no longer see the trapped group. The ice masses shifted substantially overnight, and local officials believe the… pic.twitter.com/CQMZ5JfNIj
The post continues:
The ice masses shifted substantially overnight, and local officials believe the #killerwhales were able to free themselves from the drift ice as gaps between them grew. Coastguards continue to monitor the area to ascertain whether the pod escaped safely. We remain optimistic that these intelligent creatures found a way out of the ice and back to open water.
We hope so, too.
And it seems like they have.
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