Kasco Marine Inc. Helped Raise Awareness for Trapped Whales

For those that missed the news story from earlier this week, nearly a dozen killer whales were sadly trapped below sea ice in Inukjuak, a small village in northern Quebec. Fortunately, the local government was able to provide a temporary solution by creating a hole in the ice, causing the whales to gather near the hole in search of oxygen. Fear that specialists would not be able to free the whales before it was too late was rampant, and every one’s worst nightmare was that the whales would be permanently stuck in the ice.

Kasco Marine Inc. helped raise awareness of the issue, offering to travel to Quebec to use their special De-icing equipment to free the whales. The company played an integral role in a similar situation in 1988 when a couple of gray whales were trapped by ice in Alaska. In fact, the entire rescue effort in 1988 was portrayed in Big Miracle, a popular movie from last year. However, this time there was a major hurdle preventing a potential rescue effort: limited travel access to Inukjuak. Kasco needed help finding suitable transportation to the site, and asked for help in their efforts through their Facebook page.

Luckily, the whales were able to escape from the trap, and swim back to the open sea. According an ABC news report “Water opened up around the area where the orcas had been coming up for air and the winds seemed to have shifted overnight, creating a passageway to the open water six miles away.” A happy ending indeed, and also a wonderful example of people pulling together for a good cause. Kasco’s efforts were reported by a myriad of news outlets and talk shows, and the general public did their part by liking and sharing their Facebook page to spread the news and assist in finding the right people to solve the transportation dilemma.

Absolute Aquatics is tremendously proud of Kasco Marine’s efforts, and is ecstatic that whales were able to find a safe passage.