The Last Of The Whales Have Finally Been Freed From Russia's Notorious "Whale Jail"

Russia ’s infamous “ whale jail ” is no more .

The situationfirst made headlinesin November 2018 when conservationists shared drone footage of   the heavyweight ’ enclosures ( video below).The TV quickly went viral , sparking aninternational outcryfrom activist and even some high - profile celebrity , admit Leonardo DiCaprio . The Russian government was comparatively receptive to the criticism , with President Vladimir Putin himselfasking his governmentto investigate the hulk enclosures .

The heavyweight have since been steadily releasedin several batchesstarting in   early summer , with the last of the orcas being free in August . On November   10 , 2019 , bureau stated that   the dismissal of the last beluga into the Bay of Uspeniya had been completed successfully .

“ During transit , the fauna behave sedately , their behavior was monitor by scientists , veterinarians and experienced trainers,”VNIRO said ina statement . “Three large individuals have satellite tags that will allow scientists to monitor the motion of brute in the wild . ”

However , the move has received some criticism . Conservation groupFree Russian Whalesnotes that two of the belugas that were being transported presently persist unaccounted for . The Whale Sanctuary Project also argues that the choice of placement , theBay of Uspeniya , could put whales at danger of poaching and natural hazards .

“ This outcome is not ideal for the belugas , since this is not their normal habitat or the country where they were captured , ” Jean - Michel Cousteau and Charles Vinick of the Whale Sanctuary Project aver ina statement . “Nonetheless , we trust the design of Russian government authorities to free the Delphinapterus leucas , despite limitations due to the accessibility of ships , short pecuniary resource , and weather conditions . ”

“ We also hope that ocular monitoring will help abridge concerns about threats from North Korean fishing vessel that we translate are poaching in the area and that the Russian regime will do what is necessary to protect the beluga from repeat seizure . ”

While the situation might not be idealistic , a worse luck   was facing the captured orcas and belugas . It ’s thought the animals were illegally   caught last class to be sell to marine green and aquariums in China , where the captiveorca parking area manufacture is nail .