More than
100 cetaceans have been found cooped up inside a series of tiny enclosures off
Russia's Pacific coast near the southeastern city of
Nakhodka.
In total,
11 orcas and 90 beluga whales are being housed in what activists
are now calling a "whale jail", potentially
illegally. That is the largest number of marine animals to be held in such
a way, reports Whale
and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), a UK-based wildlife
charity.
It is
thought that the cetaceans have been caught and kept to be sold off to ocean
theme parks in China at a hefty price, with businesses doling out up to $6 million
(or more) for their very own Free Willy. The country has more than 60 marine
parks and at least 12 more are under construction, The
Telegraph reports.
While the
operation of buying and selling cetaceans for entertainment is strictly illegal
– they can only be captured for scientific and educational reasons –
the international law banning the activity is routinely flouted. Just take
the four companies responsible for these 101 jailed cetaceans, which between
them exported 13
orcas to China between 2013 and 2016, an
investigation led by local media and the investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta
found. Other companies reportedly utilize a loophole in the law that doesn't
explicitly forbid "renting" whales.
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