Author: Robby Berman / Source: Big Think
- Russian news network discovers 101 black-market whales.
- Orcas and belugas are seen crammed into tiny pens.
- Marine parks continue to create a high-price demand for illegal captures.
It’s like a scene from a Hollywood thriller: Armed guards hired by some shady organization keeping watch dockside over ill-gotten goods.
Except, in this case, the goods are alive. About 100 orca and beluga whales jammed into pens of offshore netting for sale to far-off zoos. It’s far from clear that this is legal, and the government is investigating, having been alerted to the operation along the coast of Nakhodka by Russian news organization VL.ru.
(Google/Big Think)
Overhead video shows just how little room to move the leviathans have been given in their pens in Srednyaya Bay. Some have been there since July.
This giant group of whales — 11 orcas and 90 belugas — are reportedly believed to have been captured by LLC Oceanarium DV, LLC Afalina, LLC Bely Kit and LLC Sochi Dolphinarium. According to VL, these four firms dominate an illegal export market for marine animals. The four companies appear to be largely unregulated.
These whales are believed to be for sale to one of China’s 60 marine parks and aquariums, with a dozen more venues reportedly under construction. With an individual orca said to be going for about $6 million on the black market, there’s money to be made in supplying all of these attractions, in China and elsewhere. There are thought to be at least 71 orcas currently in captivity — 166 orcas have been captured since 1961, and 129 of them have died since. SeaWorld still has 21 orcas; 48 have previously died at their parks.
Greenpeace Russia coordinator Oganes Targulyan tells The Telegraph, “Catching them at this tempo, we risk losing our entire orca population.” According to the organization, it…
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