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Russia. The last orcs packed in basins have been released

2019-08-28T12:28:53.703Z


Seventy-five beluga whales, however, remain captive in a center near the city of Nakhodka, 200 km from Vladivostok. As for the issue of banning the capture of marine animals by Russia for sale to aquariums, it remains unresolved.


Seventy-five beluga whales, however, remain captive in a center near the city of Nakhodka, 200 km from Vladivostok. As for the issue of banning the capture of marine animals by Russia for sale to aquariums, it remains unresolved.

After a wave of international outrage, environmentalists on Tuesday (August 26th) hailed the announcement by the Russian authorities of the release of the last orcs held for a year in narrow basins in the Far East.

Seventy-five beluga whales, however, remain captive in a center near the city of Nakhodka, 200 km from Vladivostok. The ban on the capture of marine animals by Russia for sale to aquariums, especially in China, is also a pending issue.

"A huge environmental victory"

The Russian Institute of Oceanography said on Tuesday that the last two killer whales and six belugas were transported 1,800 kilometers by boat and truck to the Orkhotsk Sea in the Pacific Ocean, where they were released. . Since June, ten orcas and twelve belugas have been released in the same way.

The Russian organization Sakhakin Watch, which is campaigning for these releases, welcomed "a huge environmental victory" won despite "contracts signed with Chinese buyers . "

According to the Russian authorities, the priority was to release the killer whales in summer because they are less resistant than the belugas, an Arctic species that can be returned to the ocean during colder periods.

While activists and scientists had criticized the first rebates in the wild, Greenpeace acknowledged this Tuesday that this fourth operation was more transparent than the previous ones.

"The situation could be repeated in a year or two"

The NGO says it has information that local fishermen have already applied for licenses to catch beluga next year.

"If the capture of cetaceans for educational and recreational purposes is not prohibited, the situation could be repeated in a year or two," warned Ovanes Targoulian, a Greenpeace expert.

The February broadcast of photographs of 11 orcas and 93 belugas huddled in small pools since the summer of 2018 sparked a wave of global protests.

A petition on the exchange.org website claiming that these animals are released has collected more than 1.5 million signatures, including celebrities like American actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

Russia is the only country in the world that allows the capture and sale of orcas and beluga at aquariums, a controversial practice made possible by legal loopholes that the authorities have promised to correct.

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