Just off the Russian coast, 11 orcas and 90 beluga whales are being held in tiny, cramped, and deplorable enclosures that are being called “whale jails.”
Many fear that the marine animals, some which have reportedly been in containment since July, will be illegally sold to Chinese water parks and aquariums.
According to Russian news site NewsVL, the whale jail is monitored by armed men who walk around the facility, while the animals are held in underwater cages formed by nets.
A video shared on social media earlier this week showed a crane transferring a whale from a small container to where it most-likely would be shipped to its next destination, continuing its life as a prisoner.
According to reports, LLC Oceanarium DV, LLC Afalina, LLC Bely Kit, and LLC Sochi Dolphinarium own the pens holding these whales and have been caught selling whales to China in the past. While they had been given permission to capture wild whales for educational purposes, they allegedly secretly sold them to aquariums in China. One orca reportedly sold for more than $1 million.
Wild whales should not be captured for any so-called reason!
Greenpeace Russia has also condemned the conditions as “torture,” and warned that capturing whales in these numbers threatens the animals’ population in the long term. In the nearby Kamchatka region, orca numbers have decreased so drastically that they are now listed as endangered.
These companies are profiting from the torture and abuse of these amazing creatures. Trapping dozens of whales in tiny pens and then selling them for a life of misery in an aquarium is absolute abuse. Those responsible must be held accountable.
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