Killer whales and belugas finally free! After numerous protests and petitions signed internationally, Russia has just signed an agreement with a group of international scientists to free nearly 100 whales held captive for months in the Russian Far East. A scandal that has sparked a wave of criticism
Killer whales and belugas finally free! After numerous protests and petitions signed internationally, Russia has just signed an agreement with a group of international scientists to free nearly 100 whales held captive for months in the Russian Far East. A scandal that has sparked a wave of criticism.
In all 10 orcas and 87 belugas will be released after being locked up in a bay near the port of Nakhodka, in the Sea of Japan, in a real marine prison. Captured last summer by companies intending to sell them to marine parks or aquariums in China, the cetaceans had also unleashed Leonardo DiCaprio among others.
The latter had launched one petition on Change which has collected nearly 1,5 million signatures. Pamela Anderson also intervened by sending an open letter to Russian President Putin.
Although erroneously at the end of February some newspapers had made it known that belugas and orcas had been released thanks to a DiCaprio tweet, in reality the official news of the end of their imprisonment came yesterday, when the Kremlin intervened and ordered local authorities to act, prompting the Russian security service to file charges against four companies for violating fishing laws.
A great news long awaited, probably arrived to silence the numerous international pressures on the Russian government.
But now the problem concerns the modalities of release of cetaceans. Their release is likely to be gradual to protect their health. After months of imprisonment, in which they were kept in cruel conditions, it could be difficult and dangerous to release them without hurting them, as Cremluno himself confirmed.
Yesterday a team of international scientists, including Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of Jacques Cousteau, signed a joint agreement with Russian scientists, backed by local authorities, to free u ceracea.
"Scientists from Cousteau's team and Russian scientists will decide when and which animals to release," said Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the Primorsky region.
Scientists are working to come up with a plan to release the cetaceans within the next month in an area as close to their natural environment as possible.
We hope that belugas and killer whales will soon be able to return home.
READ also:
- Let's help Leonardo DiCaprio free killer whales and belugas from Russian marine prisons (PETITION)
- Hundreds of belugas and killer whales locked up in a marine prison: the one nobody wanted you to see
Francesca Mancuso
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