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| Global outcry followed when pictures were published of the whales struggling to swim through ice-encrusted waters in cramped enclosures (AFP Photo/Sergei PETROV) |
Moscow (AFP) - The last whales held in a notorious facility dubbed the "whale jail" in Russia's Far East were released on Sunday, the institute overseeing the operation said.
The fate of
the whales, which were captured to perform in aquariums, sparked international
outrage earlier this year after pictures appeared in the media of them
struggling to swim through ice-encrusted waters in cramped enclosures.
Moscow
eventually bowed to pressure to release the 93 beluga whales and 11 orcas,
which were held for more than a year in the secretive facility in Srednyaya Bay
near the far eastern town of Nakhodka.
The whales
have since been released in batches, with the last of the orcas freed in
August.
The
All-Russian Fisheries and Oceanography Institute said the operation to free the
last belugas started five days ago.
"In
the region of Primorsky Krai, the operation to release the marine mammals into
their natural habit has been completed," it said in a statement on Sunday.
Russian NGO
Sakhalin Watch, which campaigned for the whales to be freed, said the final 21
belugas were released from two ships on Sunday.
The organisation said it was delighted that "the release of all the beluga whales has taken place and that the 'whale jail' has finally freed its last prisoners!"
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Killer
whales are transported to a tank on a truck to be released from the
"whale
jail" earlier this year (AFP Photo/STR)
|
The organisation said it was delighted that "the release of all the beluga whales has taken place and that the 'whale jail' has finally freed its last prisoners!"
The
operation began around 9:00 am (2300 GMT Saturday) and went on until 5:00 pm,
Sakhalin Watch said.
Many
scientists and activists have criticised the Oceanography Institute for keeping
the details of the release secret, not taking any observers on the trip and
freeing only a small group of animals at a time rather than all of them
together, which would boost their survival odds.
Sakhalin
Watch said the coastguard forced its members to leave the bay where the whales
were being released.
Russia is
the only country that captures wild orcas and belugas to sell to aquariums, a
controversial practice made possible by legal loopholes.
Many of the
whales held at the facility in Srednyaya Bay were to be sent to aquariums in
China.
A
Change.org petition for the whales to be released collected more than 1.5
million signatures, including that of Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio.
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| The animals are being kept at a holding facility in Srednyaya Bay in the Far Eastern town of Nakhodka (AFP Photo/Sergei PETROV) |
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