Workers loaded a killer whale with a crane in a controversial facility, the so-called "whale jail", onto a truck in Srednyaya Bay, as the third group of whales is being set free into the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia starting August 1, 2019. /VCG Photo

The marine mammals were intended for commercial aquariums, but they had begun to be released in June after international outcry and intervention of the Russian government. /VCG Photo

Nearly 100 illegally captured whales held in cramped conditions have been scheduled to be released into the wild by the end of 2019, according to Russian authorities. /VCG Photo