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Final group of belugas to be freed from Far East ‘whale jail’ on October 30-31

The gradual transportation of the marine mammals to the north of the Khabarovsk Region began in June

© Yuri Smityuk/TASS

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, October 29. /TASS/. The last batch of 50 beluga whales that have been kept in the Primorsky Region’s Srednyaya Bay, will be released on October 30-31, Sakhalin Environmental Watch Chairman Dmitry Lisitsyn told TASS on Tuesday.

A meeting of scientists from Russia’s Research Institute for Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) decided on October 24 to free the remaining 50 beluga whales into a bay near the Lazovsky Nature Reserve due to approaching storms. The dates of the release were unknown then. The activist coalition known as ‘Free Russian Whales’ raised alarm bells about this situation. According to representatives from this environmentalist organization, North Korean poachers who illegally fish in this part of the Sea of Japan might threaten the marine mammals.

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"The release is to begin on October 30-31," an official said. TASS did not manage to receive a comment from VNIRO’s Pacific branch office, known as TINRO.

According to Lisitsyn, the ‘Free Russian Whales’ coalition sent an official letter to VNIRO and TINRO, asking for permission to have a public observer present during the final release. All the documents necessary for such an observer to be on board the vessel were handed in. TINRO’s deputy director replied that it was not possible to accommodate an additional expert on the vessels. Environmental specialists say that the rejection is an alarming sign.

Ninety beluga whales and 11 orcas caught for sale to China had been kept in the Primorsky Region’s Srednyaya Bay, since the summer of 2018, but later three beluga whales and one orca got lost. According to investigators, during the mammals’ capture, violations were detected and a criminal case on the illegal seizure of bioresources was launched.

In June, the gradual transportation of the marine mammals to the north of the Khabarovsk Region began for their release to the wild in groups.

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