Operation Breakthrough
Point Barrow
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Operation Breakthrough was a US-Soviet effort to free three gray whales from pack ice in the Beaufort Sea near Point Barrow in the U.S. state of Alaska in 1988. The whales' plight generated media attention that led to the collaboration of multiple governments and organizations to free them. The youngest whale died during the effort and it is unknown if the remaining two whales ultimately survived.
Rescue effort
On October 7, 1988,
The first news story about the trapped whales was in
After the path was cut observers could find no sign of the whales and the operation was declared a success. However, the remaining two whales were reportedly in very poor health at the time of the rescue and because radio tags were never attached, it is unknown if the animals survived.[5] The rescue effort cost US $1 million USD but was criticized by scientists.[4]
Retrospect
A whale expert cited the rescue effort as a catalyst for a new public perspective about whales, saying, "Although the rescue of the gray whales trapped in the Alaskan ice involved huge expense to reverse a common and natural event, it underscored the changing attitudes of humans toward whales."[2]
See also
- Big Miracle, a fictionalized 2012 film depicting the rescue effort, after the 1989 book of the same name
- Moskva, a Soviet icebreaker that freed a herd of up to 3,000 beluga whales trapped in pack ice in February 1985
- List of individual cetaceans
Further reading
- Rose, Tom (1989). Freeing the Whales: How the Media Created the World's Greatest Non-Event. Carol Publishing Corporation. ISBN 978-1-55972-011-3.
- Clayton, Patti (1998). Connection On The Ice: Environmental Ethics In Theory And Practice. Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1566396158.
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-55963-088-7.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-684-86434-1.
- ISBN 978-1-55143-114-7.
- ^ a b Dorfman, Andrea; Postman, David (November 7, 1988). "Environment: Free At Last! Bon Voyage!". Time.
- ^ Mauer, Richard (February 3, 2012). "The real story behind 'Big Miracle'". The Anchorage Daily News. Archived from the original on February 3, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2012.