KHABAROVSK, August 27. /TASS/. The last group of killer whales held in captivity in Srednyaya Bay in Russia’s Far East has been released into the Sea of Okhotsk, the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Two killer whales and six beluga whales have been turned loose after they were put through re-adjustment procedures and tests, and satellite tags were affixed to them. That said, all ten killer whales from Srednyaya Bay have been released into the sea," the statement reads.

The fourth stage of an operation to release the whales into the wild kicked off on August 22. They were brought to the sea coast from Srednyaya Bay via Khabarovsk and the Nikolayevsky District.

Whale of a saga

Since the summer of 2018, 90 beluga whales and 11 killer whales had been kept in Srednyaya Bay for sale to China. At some point, three beluga whales and one killer whale went missing. According to investigators, the mammals had been poached illegally.

In June, work began on moving the whales to the north of the Khabarovsk Region in order to release them into the wild. The first group of two killer whales and six beluga whales was turned loose into the sea on June 27, the second group of three killer whales was let go on July 16, and the third group of three mammals was set free on August 6.