Environment Almost 100 white whales trapped near Russia's Chukotka Peninsula

The lives of almost 100 white whales are threatened after becoming trapped in ice near Russia's northeasternmost Peninsula, Chukotka, the first deputy of the Industrial politics department of the Chukotka region, Valery Vasilyev, said on Wednesday. Vasilyev said that local fishermen and hunters working in the Bering Sea reported they saw a group of white whales trapped in the Sinyavinsky channel on Tuesday. “The hunters said that the animals swam into two little ice-holes where they can easily breathe,” Vasilyev said, adding that the white whales however cannot escape the trap and are in danger since there is no food in the area and the ice is freezing very quickly. Chukotka’s authorities asked the Russian Emergencies Ministry for help, the official said.