Drone Footage Exposes Nearly 100 Whales Held In Captivity In Hidden Underwater “Jails”

Sep 18, 2020 by apost team

In 2018, nearly 100 whales were discovered holed-up inside small enclosures near the Pacific coast of Nakhodka, Russia. Wildlife experts counted a total of 97 beluga whales and orcas, also known as killer whales, that were being housed in underwater prisons.

According to reports from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, a wildlife organization based in the UK, this is the largest group of aquatic animals that have been known to be held captive this way.

Luckily, the Russian government released all 97 beluga whales and orcas on November 10, 2019, after almost five months in captivity in "whale jail."

According to National Geographic, a group of Russian companies captured the animals in the summer of 2018 with the goal of supplying them to aquariums. While they waited for transport, the companies confined the whales and orcas to holding cells in Srednyaya Bay in far eastern Russia.

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According to international law, whales can only be captured for scientific or educational purposes. Selling the animals to theme parks is illegal, but the law is routinely ignored. A strange loophole in international law does allow companies to rent whales, so this is one way that poachers are able to ply their trade.

The companies that imprisoned this large group of whales sold 13 orcas to Chinese Theme parks between 2013 to 2016. This information was gained via investigations from local media, including the investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

Prosecutors are looking for evidence that proves the poachers are not holding the cetaceans for educational or research purposes, although the companies claim that they are.

The Greenpeace Organization in Russia describes the conditions of the whale holding facilities as torture. The companies that captured the whales received permission to capture 13 whales earlier this year.

Experts believe that there may also be infant whales in the enclosures because of the size of the "prisons." This practice is completely forbidden by international law with no exceptions. Such a large-scale capture of whales could potentially increase the risk of these species becoming extinct.

Luckily, however, National Geographic reports that the Russian government had released all 97 animals as of November 10, 2019. The Whale Sanctuary project released a statement following the good news, urging the government to continue to monitor the belugas given their vulnerable status.

"We believe it is very important and call on the Russian government to carry out short- and long-term monitoring of the activity of the 50 belugas after their release," the statement read.

"We also hope that visual monitoring will help reduce concerns about threats from North Korean fishing vessels that we understand are poaching in the area and that the Russian government will do what is necessary to protect the belugas from repeat capture."

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