The difficulties with orcas trapped in the so-called whale jail in Russia's Far East region are understandable as their cost is about $100 million, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his annual "Direct Line" Q&A session on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th June, 2019) The difficulties with orcas trapped in the so-called whale jail in Russia's Far East region are understandable as their cost is about $100 million, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his annual "Direct Line" Q&A session on Thursday.
The Pacific Branch of the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography announced during Putin's call-in session that the release of orcas and white whales from Srednyaya Bay in Russia's Primorsky Territory had started. The first group of marine mammals, which comprises two orcas and six white whales, will shortly be released into the Sea of Okhotsk
"The problem is well-known, and it is understandable why the difficulties arise, as far as I know, the price of orcas alone is about $100 million," Putin said.
The so-called whale jail in Srednyaya Bay made headlines in the fall after Greenpeace reported that preparations for selling 13 orcas � which are on the Red List of Threatened Species � to China were underway, while 15 orcas had already been sold to China. A probe was then launched into the illegal fishing of aquatic animals and animal abuse.
In February, Putin asked relevant agencies to determine the fate of the animals and verify whether they had been caught and kept in captivity legally.
