Orcas trapped in icy waters.
Around ten of these marine mammals were filmed this Tuesday, stuck in the middle of blocks of ice off the coast of the town of Rausu, on the island of Hokkaido, Japan.
These images shared by a nature protection organization and Japanese television show these animals in distress, struggling to get some air.
A fisherman had alerted local authorities earlier after seeing an orca stuck in the ice about 1 km from the coast.
But it was impossible for the coast guard to free them because of the thickness of the ice.
A situation that is all the more worrying as this species can only spend around ten minutes apnea underwater, unlike other cetaceans, which forces it to come to the surface very often to breathe.
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As of Wednesday morning, the pod of orcas was no longer seen, according to local officials.
For them, it is likely that the marine mammals managed to “get to safety”.
In 2005, several orcas trapped by ice in the same place were unable to escape and ended up dying.