NEED TO KNOW

In 1988, a colossal effort to save three whales trapped in ice drew international attention

"Operation Rescue," as it was dubbed, ultimately brought together public and private resources, various countries, and hundreds of volunteers

But whether the rescue was successful remains a mystery

It was an Inuit whale hunter who first spotted them: three juvenile California gray whales, trapped in frozen seas near Point Barrow, Alaska, on October 7, 1988. Roy Ahmaogak mentioned seeing the gray whales (which aren't often hunted, due to being unappetizing) in passing to an employee of the borough, who then reported the whales to a biologist.

Word of the trapped whales then got to a local television reporter and, once live footage of the mammals bashing their heads against ice made

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