Operation Beluga 1984
In December 1984, a pod of 3,000 beluga whales became trapped by ice in the Chukchi Sea, near Russia. The whales were confined to small, open pools of water surrounded by thick, impenetrable ice up to 10 feet thick in some areas.
Without access to larger areas of ocean, the whales had difficulty breathing and were at risk of death. To help rescue them, the Kremlin brought in an icebreaker called Admiral Makarov which is equipped with a specially reinforced ice-breaking hull. The ship attempted to move the whales to safety by breaking the ice, but the belugas initially refused to follow.
When the crew began playing classical music like Tchaikovsky over the ship's speakers, the whales finally began to follow Makarov through the narrow, open channel of water. This allowed 2,000 whales to reach the unfrozen ocean after a journey of about 100 miles.
The successful rescue effort lasted several days and was later dubbed "Operation Beluga." It was a huge project involving many countries, including the Soviet Union, the United States, Canada and Japan.
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