Officials tracking them said they appeared to have moved away from the scene when they were last seen.
The twelve whales that were trapped in the ice off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan, appear to have escaped successfully, according to officials.
The orcas were spotted by a fisherman earlier this week, nearly a kilometer off Hokkaido.
Drone footage shows the animals huddled together and poking their heads out of the water to breathe while everything around them is frozen. Officials traveled to the coastal city to watch the whales. The video was also shown on Japanese television, sparking a wave of concern for the animals with environmental groups appealing for government help to free them.
One of the environmental groups asked the Japanese government to send an icebreaker to the area to help free the trapped animals.
But on Wednesday, officials said they appeared to have moved away from the scene when they were last seen.
“We believe they managed to escape safely,” said a local official in the coastal town of Raushu.
According to Japanese media reports, orcas, unlike other large whales, cannot remain underwater for long and must resurface every few minutes.
Source :Skai
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