Orca held in notorious Russian 'whale jail' missing, feared dead

Alec Luhn
The Orca is feared to have died in captivity at the scandalous facility, from where whales are to be sold to Chinese aquariums - AFP
The Orca is feared to have died in captivity at the scandalous facility, from where whales are to be sold to Chinese aquariums - AFP

An Orca held with nearly 100 other whales in a scandalous “whale jail” on Russia's Pacific coast has gone missing and is feared dead.

Police said they were investigating the disappearance of an Orca from holding centre in Srednyaya bay near Nakhodka.

It was first discovered in November that 11 Orcas and 90 Beluga whales were being kept in the bay and were expected to be sold to Chinese aquariums.

Legal wrangling over the facility has moved forward in fits and starts. On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin ordered the government to investigate the confinement of the whales in the bay and review regulations on the capture of marine mammals.

The Russian government has ordered an investigation into the capture and confinement of the whales, which prosecutors say is illegal - Credit: Sergei Petrov/AFP
The Russian government has ordered an investigation into the capture and confinement of the whales, which prosecutors say is illegal Credit: Sergei Petrov/AFP

The companies in charge of the facility reportedly informed authorities this week that a whale escaped from the first enclosure through a damaged net.

But animal rights activists have raised suspicions that it died due to crowded, restrictive conditions of its confinement.

Members of the Free Russian Whales Coalition who were able to visit the facility last month said it would be nearly impossible for a whale to break out. A male Orca named Kirill in the first enclosure appeared to be seriously ill at the time, they said.

Three young Belugas are already believed to have died at the facility, which activists say would be nearly impossible for the whale to have broken out of as operators have claimed - Credit: Free Russian Whales/AP
Three young Belugas are already believed to have died at the facility, which activists say would be nearly impossible for the whale to have broken out of as operators have claimed Credit: Free Russian Whales/AP

Three Beluga whales that disappeared from the “whale jail” in December are also suspected to have died. Activists believe the trio were less than a year old, an age at which they have special difficulty adapting to captivity.

The investigative committee opened a case over the suspected illegal capture of whales in November. It later opened an investigation into cruel treatment of animals at the facility.

But the companies holding the animals successfully appealed a regional court to remove the arrest on them in December, potentially paving the way for their export.

Wildlife activists have visited the facility and reported appalling conditions - Credit: Free Russian Whales/AP
Wildlife activists have visited the facility and reported appalling conditions Credit: Free Russian Whales/AP

Russian companies can receive quotas to capture whales for scientific or educational purposes despite a 1982 worldwide moratorium on whale hunting. But the firms renting the enclosures in Srednyaya bay previously exported 13 whales to China, where a boom in aquariums means each creature can be rented out or sold for up to several million dollars, Russian media reported.

Activists have warned that the shady business is a threat to Russia's Orca population, claiming that one animal is killed for every one successfully caught.

Orcas, also known as “killer whales,” are actually a highly intelligent type of dolphin that lives in families and communicates through sounds of various pitches.

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