A Whale of a Tale

On the morning of Oct. 7, 1988, an Alaskan Indian left his home in the small town of Barrow in the northwest of Alaska to hunt seals. It was bitterly cold. Winter had come early, and the sea around Barrow had already frozen over. He was used to freezing temperatures and to being surrounded by ice and snow for months on end. He had hunted seals in conditions like these many times.

But this was no ordinary day. As he tramped across the ice, something caught his eye. He moved closer and saw an extraordinary sight. Three California gray whales were pushing their great heads through a crack in the ice! He realized that the whales were trapped in the ice, their noses scraped and bruised from trying to force a way to the open sea.

The hunter guessed that the three whales had been left behind when their herd began the long swim south from their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic Ocean to their winter breeding grounds in the warm waters of California. Surprised by the sudden, early arrival of winter, these three seemed to have lost their sense of direction. Instead of heading for open water, they had swum into a shallow bay where the water had quickly frozen over and formed a wall of ice at the bay's mouth. There was no way out.

The man knew that whales need to come up to the surface about every four minutes to breathe. He also knew that the whales needed help fast. They had made one small breathing hole, but the ice was thick, and they were too weak to create any more. He raced back to Barrow for help.

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Everyone listened to his story; but some people felt that, sadly, the whales should be left to die naturally. However, others disagreed. One of the residents encouraged people to save the whales. Soon the whales' story appeared in local newspapers and on television. The people of Barrow trooped out on the ice with chainsaws and pickaxes, hoping to cut more breathing holes for the whales and guide them to open water.

Before long, people around the world had heard about the three whales. Scientists and others flocked to Barrow to see what could be done. Even Ronald Reagan, who was president of the United States, offered help.