The Minister of Natural Resources & the Environment has informed the Russian news agency TASS that plans are now moving ahead to return the captive orcas and beluga whales being held in Srednyaya Bay to the ocean.
“It will be the summer period for sure,” Dmitry Kobylkin said. “We would like it to happen as soon as possible. I think it will be July or August; August is the deadline.”
While Kobylkin’s comments do not constitute a formal decision on the part of the Russian government, they do represent a clear step forward.
Kobylkin added that, based on his discussions with experts, the whales will be ready to re-adapt to the ocean by then. “I talked to the person with the most profound knowledge of the issue, Jean-Michel Cousteau,” he said. “The [animal] skills cannot be lost in one year.”
At a press conference at the Ministry in April, Cousteau and Whale Sanctuary Project Executive Director Charles Vinick had cautioned that each animal will need to be evaluated and rehabilitated individually.
“Each of the animals is an individual and has to be treated as an individual,” Vinick told reporters. “In Srednyaya Bay, the challenge for rehabilitation and release is complex. And therefore, we need to work together to identify a strategy for rehabilitation and for reintroduction or release of as many of those animals, one by one, as is possible.”
He added that because the whales have been in captivity a relatively short time, this will be an advantage in their rehabilitation.
“Each of the animals is an individual and has to be treated as an individual.”
Charles Vinick
The following week, after the Whale Sanctuary Project team had traveled to Srednyaya Bay and spent several days observing the whales, we reported to the minister that we were optimistic about a successful release program:
“Preliminary results of the behavioral analyses conducted by the Team show that all orcas and belugas in the holding facility at Srednyaya Bay can be rehabilitated and released. The Team has not identified any scientific reasons why any individual animals cannot be rehabilitated and released.”
Various plans have been put forward for where and when the whales should be released. Minister Kobylkin told TASS that the Russian Scientific Research Institute of Fishery and Oceanography endorses the same plan that the Cousteau/Whale Sanctuary Project team proposed in its report to the ministry: to release the whales where they were captured – off the Shantar Islands.
The Whale Sanctuary Project considers this to be the most responsible rehabilitation and release program, and we remain committed to providing expertise and assistance to facilitate it.
8 Comments
Many thanks to all involved to free these beautiful animals into the oceans where they belong & not in tanks in China performing ridiculous tricks!
Would the Orcas and Belugas who are being returned to their native waters not join up with their families and hunt naturally? Would the natural instinct kick in sooner than later?
It’s a good question. Fact is we don’t know where the families will be, and catching food is not all “natural instinct.” Much of it is learned from one’s family, just as it is with us humans. Orcas in particular are “cultural” animals, meaning that the knowledge is passed down from generation to generation. Orcas and belugas learn “how to be a whale” from their extended families – mothers, aunts and sisters in particular. These whales are all quite young; some of them were not even weaned when they were taken from their families. And what they’ve learned, over the last year, is that food comes from above the water, is dead, and is put directly into their mouths. So, we want, at very least, to give them some rudimentary education before putting them out there on their own.
In the case of Keiko (the orca of “Free Willy” fame), re-adaptation took several years before he was ready and able to swim off on his own. He was a much older whale, who had been in captivity in various concrete tanks for more than 17 years. The whales in Srednyaya Bay have the advantage of having been in captivity for only a year, so re-adaptation should be easier and quicker.
Estoy convencido al igual que Michelle……. la impronta ha sido relativamente breve y su adaptación para volver por sus presas brotará de su alegría de ser libres otra vez en sus océanos…. las mas pequeñas prefiero se tome algún resguardo previo y por cierto un informado seguimiento de cada una de ellas, es una oportunidad!! LIBRESENSUSMARES!!!
You reported that: “Preliminary results of the behavioral analyses conducted by the Team show that all orcas and belugas in the holding facility at Srednyaya Bay can be rehabilitated and released.”
Could you provide more specifics here? What kind of behavioral data show that?
The Executive Summary of our report to the Ministry of Natural Resources & the Environment is here. Regarding their behavior, we noted, for example, that “It appears that the orca have received only a limited amount of training, which is advantageous for rehabilitation and conditioning/preparation for release” and that “Only one type of enrichment toy (fishing floats strung together) was deployed (to pens 1 & 2) during our time observing the orca. Regardless, the animals did not appear to show interest in these toys, which is likely due to the enrichment being improperly implemented (i.e. left in the pens too long and the same toy used). We did not observe the orca in pen 3 receiving any enrichment toys.” The less of this kind of “enrichment” to which they have become adapted, the less re-adaptation will be needed.
Am so impressed with the Russian departments who have respected the right to freedom and a natural for the Orcas and Belugas. How I wish other governments would follow such a protocol. Thank you to the Cousteau Organization, Lori Marino, the Whale Team and everyone involved who are professionally committed to seeing this rehab through. Appreciate the updates, thank you!
Thank you, Michael, Charles and the Whale Team, for all you’re doing for these captured cetaceans.
Our organisation is following with interest and concern this important matter.
We also thank the Russian authorities for their good intentions and hope the whales will be rehabilitated and freed as soon as practicable, bearing in mind the interests of the animals.