Last summer, four Russian companies captured 11 orcas and 90 beluga whales in Russia’s Sea of Okhotsk, bringing them to cramped sea pens in the Pacific port of Nakhodka. Thanks to the legal work of Russian conservationists, two of the four companies have received large fines for the captures.
The Frunzensky District Court has fined the “White Whale” company 30 million rubles (about $460,000 US) and the company Oceanarium DV 56 million rubles (about $869,000 US). The two other companies will soon be brought before the court.
According to Russian law, the capture of wild cetaceans can only be done for scientific or public education purposes. But the whales that were caught last summer were destined to be sold to Chinese aquariums for entertainment purposes, a clear violation of the law.
So far, one orca and three beluga whales have turned up “missing”, and they are believed to have died and been disposed of by the capture companies.
The Russian government has been holding internal debates that appear to go back and forth. While the government has blocked export permits for the whales and has also blocked new permits for captures this summer, the fate of the Whale Jail captives is still uncertain. Some in government (along with the capture companies) seem to favor allowing the sale to China; others have proposed to release the whales immediately where they are being kept, an area that is polluted and has a lot of ship traffic. Both moves are opposed by IMMP, Russian conservationists, and expert scientists who have been in discussions with the Russian government.
The whales need rehabilitation, including changing their diet to live food and treating many with skin lesions caused by poor water quality. The sea pens need to be expanded to avoid the current overcrowding.
Releasing the whales where they are would isolate them from their home pods, and they would likely die without support from their original families. Only by returning them to their feeding grounds, when their families are present to re-unite them, would they stand the best chance for survival.
IMMP strongly supports this approach, outlined by scientists and cetacean experts. IMMP further is urging that the funds raised from the fines of the capture companies be spent to rehab and return the Russian Whale Jail whales to their families and freedom as soon as feasible.