~ Illegal Capture of Wild Orca in Russia ~

A killer whale was captured around July 20 in the Russian waters of Chkalova Island (Okhotsk Sea).

It was captured by the team that annually catches beluga whales in this area to sell them to commercial oceanariums. The killer whale capture was not planned in advance: the captors were preparing for beluga whale capturing while they saw a pod of killer whales and decided to try the luck. To the knowledge of the Russian Research team, they had no official permit to capture a killer whale, neither the facilities to keep it.

One killer whale was captured; it is unknown what has happened with the rest of the pod, how many of them were injured or died. Currently the whale is kept in a temporary net enclosure which is too small for such a big animal, and the catchers are trying to get a permit that would be dated back to July to make this capture look legal. (Source: Russian Orcas Project)

Please help protest this move and demand from the Russian government to let this orca go back to her wild family!

Here are a couple addresses:

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Office of The Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, The Russian Government House 2, Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment, Moscow 103274, Russia. Tel.: +7 (495) 925 3581. Fax: +7 (495) 205 8153.

Minister Yury Trutnev, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Russian Federation, 4/6 Bolshaya Gruzinskaya Ulitsa, Moscow 123995, Russia. Tel.: +7 (495) 254 4800. Fax: +7 (495) 254 6610, 254-4310.

It might also be helpful to write to the Russian Federation´s Embassy in your respective country.

(courtesy of Orca Network)