Eleven killer whales or orcas, two adults and nine younger individuals, were discovered Wednesday morning trapped in the ice of Hudson's Bay. The whales were taking turns breathing through a 30ft hole that was shrinking. The Inuit village of Inukjuak was about 19 miles from the site of the life or death struggle to survive. Inukjuak's mayor, Peter Inukpuk asked the Canadian government for help, and a team of experts was dispatched to investigate whether it was possible to save the orcas from drowning. The whales appeared to be looking for a way out, as their appearances above water took place at irregular intervals. The mayor's suggestion to send an icebreaker to lead the orcas to open water was cooly dismissed as complicated, expensive and if one were sent, it might not arrive in time. The nearest breaker was 36 hours away. While the central government pondered whether it could afford a rescue, the local people decided at a public meeting to take action. The villagers prepared to cut a half mile of breathing holes to open water using chain saws and propellers. Fortune smiled on the orcas and their willing rescuers as a change in current broke up the death trap naturally and the orcas swam away to breath again another day.
