Killer whales stuck in Hudson Bay ice go free
Remote community had urged ice-breaker be sent to rescue animals caught out by sudden freeze, but ice broke up as quickly as it formed
Eleven killer whales facing imminent danger of suffocation after being trapped by ice in Hudson Bay on Canada's Arctic shore managed to free themselves yesterday, after their plight created a worldwide sensation.
Residents from the nearby Inuit community of Inukjuak in northern Quebec, who had raised the alarm and appealed for authorities to send an ice-breaker, had planned to widen the hole. But the whales were gone when they arrived at the site yesterday morning, according to The Globe and Mail.
One resident, Johnny Williams, told the newspaper that shifting winds likely broke up the ice, allowing the creatures to swim to freedom.
But the community's mayor, Peter Inukpuk, who had asked the government for an ice breaker and other help, said "Mother Nature freed them."
Inukpuk said that the new moon overnight had shifted currents, sweeping the mammalsinto open waters.