Last year, four Russian companies illegally captured 97 beluga whales and orcas, locking them in what the media dubbed a “whale jail”. Now, this jail has finally been emptied, with all the sea mammals safely back in the wild.
The whales’ imprisonment caused worldwide concern earlier this year upon the release of a drone’s footage showing the facility in Russia’s far east Srednyaya Bay, with orcas and belugas crammed in small sea pens.
The Russian government, with the help of the Russian Federal Research Institute for Fisheries and Oceanography, began the process of freeing the marine mammals – who were caught with the purpose of selling them to aquariums – from the facility in June. Four and a half months later, by November 10th, 2019, the authorities have completed the release of all 97 animals.
