NOAA Fisheries Image Gallery

Whale Rescuers Make Breathing Holes

Picture by: Dave Withrow Picture taken on: February 1st, 1988

Tags: whale rescuers breathing operation breakthrough 1988

Inupiat hunters living in and around Barrow, cut a path through the sea ice with chain saws. In 1988, three gray whales were trapped by sea ice outside Barrow, Alaska. This event inspired a new film called "Big Miracle," which was released in February 2012. This photo was scanned from slides at the National Marine Mammal Lab in Seattle.

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