Weather Slows Barge to Rescue Trapped Whales

Eskimo whalers wielding chain saws against thickening ice worked Wednesday to keep breathing holes open for three trapped whales, while a rescue effort using an ice-breaking barge got under way from Prudhoe Bay.

Two Army National Guard Skycrane helicopters were rigged to alternately tow a 185-ton Hovercraft-type ice-breaking barge to the whales’ location about 230 miles to the west.

Bitter weather hampered the journey over desolate Arctic Ocean ice, expected to take 25 to 40 hours.

Helicopter Departs

The first of the powerful transport helicopters lifted off at noon, and the early going was “real, real slow,” said Sheryl Deveau, a spokeswoman for the rescue effort.

The Skycrane was dragging the barge along “an inch at a time,” she said, with 10 miles of sand bars, mud and shallow water before the barge would reach smooth ocean ice where the going would be easier. By 4:30 p.m., the helicopter had towed the barge about 4 miles from the dock, and it appeared things were looking up.

“It’s moving about 7 miles an hour now,” said Mike Haller, a National Guard spokesman. “They’ve picked up some speed. They’ll continue on until darkness, and then they’ll return here for some maintenance before picking up the mission again at first light.”

Bitter cold and constantly shifting ice trapped the animals in shallow water two weeks ago as they were migrating south to warmer waters. Since then, they have surfaced every few minutes for air in the holes in the ice about 18 miles northeast of this Inupiat Eskimo village.