Killer whales freed after 6 weeks trapped in lake near Coffman Cove

A team in Coffman Cove helped set free two killer whales that had been trapped in Barnes Lake on northeast Prince of Wales Island since mid-August for six weeks, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The orcas presumably stranded themselves by chasing prey into the lake during a high-tide cycle. Transient, or Bigg’s, killer whales are a genetically and culturally distinct population of orcas that live in the Pacific Northwest and feed primarily on marine mammals, according to NOAA.

Barnes Lake has two entrances from salt water that a whale could pass through during...