Russia to release killer whales in new habitat, despite expert advice

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Russia is to free captured killer whales over the next month, but will not return them to their original habitat despite expert advice, a scientist said Wednesday.

The animals will instead be released from their pens in Russia's Far East and may "disrupt vacationers" at resorts nearby, said Vladislav Rozhnov, who was involved in talks over their fate.

Illegally caught belugas swimming in a small pool at the Marine Animals Adaptation Center in Srednyaya Bay near the city of Nakhodka in Russia's Far East. /VCG Photo

Nearly 100 belugas and orcas were captured last summer and kept in small pens by commercial firms who had planned to deliver them to aquariums.

Ten killer whales, also known as orcas, will be released in late May to early June, according to Rozhnov during a briefing at the Russian environment ministry.

An aerial view of the Marine Animals Adaptation Center in Srednyaya Bay near the city of Nakhodka, Russia's Far East. /VCG Photo

He said it would be more ideal to transport them to where they had initially been captured, as Russian and foreign scientists have advised, but this was deemed too costly.

Instead they will be freed in the bay where they have been held near the town of Nakhodka, more than 1,300 kilometers south from where they were initially caught in the Sea of Okhotsk.

An aerial view of the small pools where the killer whales and belugas are kept, in Srednyaya Bay near the city of Nakhodka, Russia's Far East. /VCG Photo

There is a risk that the whales will "stay near the pens where they were fed" and bother humans, he said.

"Science gives recommendations, but government authorities make the decision," said Rozhnov, who heads the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Environment.

"We hope that the released animals will go north and return to their native waters," he said.

'Aggressive' orcas

The environment ministry said in a statement that transporting the animals to the Sea of Okhotsk could injure the animals and cause stress. Constructing rehabilitation enclosures at a faraway release site would be too complicated, it added.

"To put this into reality is difficult due to constraints of time," the ministry said.

Employees of the Marine Animals Adaptation Center feed killer whales, in Srednyaya Bay near the city of Nakhodka, Russia's Far East. /VCG Photo

Rozhnov said there was no precise decision made on the beluga whales, but scientists are now looking into genetic evidence of family ties between the captured juveniles and known beluga groups in the wild.

In a statement made on Wednesday, conservationists Jean-Michel Cousteau and his team warned that releasing the killer whales near the facility where they were being held carries a "high number of significant risks," including potential conflict with people and boats in the area due to "aggressive behaviors observed in some of the orcas."

A killer whale is leaning on a floating platform at the Marine Animals Adaptation Center in Srednyaya Bay near the city of Nakhodka, Russia's Far East. /VCG Photo

Such a release "is likely to lead to long-term costs and low survival rate," the team said. They also said the whales should be taken to where they were captured following an "acclimatization period" in remote enclosures.

Russia is the only country that continues catching wild orcas and belugas. The controversial trade of marine mammals has boomed in recent years together with the aquarium industry.

Although some fisheries officials have defended the capture as a legitimate industry, scientists argue that it threatens the species' populations.

(Cover: A beluga whale in a pool at the Marine Animals Adaptation Center where illegally caught 11 orcas and 90 belugas are kept in Srednyaya Bay near the city of Nakhodka in Russia's Far East. /VCG Photo)

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Source(s): AFP