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Team of experts sets out to help close ‘whale jail’

The scientists stress that the condition of these whales "is declining"

VLADIVOSTOK, April 3. /TASS/. An international team of marine wildlife experts, led by French oceanic researcher Jean-Michel Cousteau, has received Russian visas and is now departing for Russia, a Russian environmentalist told TASS on Wednesday.

"The Cousteau team got Russian visas at the Russian Embassy in Washington and prepares to leave for Moscow. They have just sent us a photo from the airport," said Dmitry Lisitsyn, the head of a local ecological watchdog in Sakhalin that keeps in touch with international experts over the problem of whales kept in the Center of Adaptation for Marine Animals in the Russian Far East region.

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French ocean explorer to visit ‘whale prison’ in Russia’s Far East this week

The Whale sanctuary project, an organization in which Jean-Michel Cousteau is taking part, said that the French explorer had received permission from Russia’s authorities and planned to visit the country this week to join an effort to rescue and rehabilitate orcas and beluga whales kept in the facility in the Srednyaya Bay, dubbed a "whale prison" by environmentalists. On April 3, Cousteau is expected to arrive in Moscow and on April 4 he is set to meet with representatives of the Russian Natural Resources Ministry and then head to Vladivostok, where he is due to arrive on April 5. He will visit the Srednyaya Bay the following day.

Jean-Michel Cousteau, who is the first son of famous ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, and his team plan to meet with Russian officials and hope to start joint work on assessing the condition of the mammals together with Russian scientists and researchers.

Whale Sanctuary Project experts were among over 30 international scientists from around the world, who signed an open letter to Russia’s authorities asking them to provide access to orcas and beluga whales kept in the Center of Adaptation for Marine Animals in the Russian Far East. Eleven orcas had been kept for sale to China in the facility in Srednyaya Bay along with 90 beluga whales. However, three beluga whales went missing, and one orca reportedly disappeared. Police are carrying out an investigation. A criminal case has been launched into illegal hunting of these mammals.

The scientists stress that the condition of these whales "is poor and declining." They referred to the conclusions of biologists and veterinarians, who compared an orca in photos taken 42 days ago.

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