The prison for whales, it's finished!
One Voice leads a nonviolent fight to defend animal rights and respect all life forms. The organization operates independently and is thus free to speak and act freely.
A prison for whales, is over! Or at least, it is coming to an end because the repatriation of orcas and belugas confined for a year in the Srednyaya bay has just started. There will also be no further animals caught in Russian waters, according to a court ruling. One Voice is delighted with this good news but remains vigilant as to the continuation of these operations.
Crédits photo © Yuri Smityuk/TASS
Editorial
from Friday April 3, 2020:
An
historic decision for transient orcas from Russia!
Friday,
April 3rd 2020, the Russian government confirmed that transient orcas
are now listed in the “Red Book of the Russian Federation”,
their official list of endangered species. This means that these
orcas can no longer be hunted, captured or sold there to any park,
whether in China or elsewhere in the world.
One
Voice had participated in the coming together of this international
team composed of in particular Charles Vinick, Jean-Michel Cousteau
and Ingrid Visser. They had been able to go there to work with the
authorities on the protocols and the release program, and to spend
time with government officials, personally urging them never to let
such a seizure of animals happen again. Popular mobilization has been
invaluable in first denouncing the existence of this “whale
prison” and then in giving freedom to each orca and beluga.
It
is a huge victory. It is the first time in 23
years that this species has been added to this list. It is a historic
decision!
Two
orcas and six belugas have already set off for the Okhotsk Sea in
clunky old trucks, from which you can hear their anguished calls
under the tarpaulin that hides them. The trip is at high risk, for
them as for those who will follow them in small groups until all the
pens are empty. In addition, their rehabilitation will be reduced to
ten days before they are released off the coast of Shantar Island in
the Okhotsk Sea, some 1,770 kilometres from the place of their
abduction. Some are very affected by their stay with humans. Last
April, we participated in sending a group of experts composed of
Jean-Michel Cousteau and members of the Whale Sanctuary Project,
including a distinguished collaborator of One Voice, the biologist
Ingrid Visser. They had been invited to assess the state of health of
these captives on the spot and to propose a rehabilitation plan.
According to their report, most of the animals presented severe skin
lesions (the skin of the orcas was burned by ice, they have been
partially skinned alive), but all seemed well fed and able to be
released.
In a televised debate, Vladimir Putin commented on this transfer.
“You
should know that a single orca is already worth almost $ 10 million,”
he said, “And when there is so much money at stake, problems are
always difficult to solve. Thank goodness things have started to
move“. Let us salute here the obstinacy of the President of the
Russian Federation to impose his will on the governors of these
distant provinces, who are reluctant to let go of the goose that lays
the golden eggs so easily. It was also for him to restore the image
of Russia. It is indeed the only country to still carry out this kind of capture, at a time when marine sanctuaries are opening in Iceland
and Greece and when Canada now prohibits any detention of cetaceans
on its territory.
Heavy fines
Better
yet, on May 31st,
the Sakhalin court declared illegal all orca and beluga catch quotas
issued in 2018 by the Federal Fisheries Agency. As a result, two of
the four companies involved in these catches were subsequently given
very heavy fines. Trials against the other companies are still
ongoing, but there will already be no catches of large cetaceans in
Russia until further notice. Deputy Prime Minister Gordeyev also
confirmed that the government would soon amend the law which still
authorizes the abduction of these marine mammals for “educational
and cultural purposes” today.
Hope
All
is certainly not resolved for the prisoners of the Srednyaya bay
because their release will take at least four months and all will
probably not survive. But we can only applaud this unexpected
liberation, which marks a turning point in the history of Russia and
does it proud.
One
Voice also hopes that it will give food for thought to countries like
China and France, which still exploit dolphins and orcas in their
aquatic circuses.
The
road will be long, but we want to believe it: Cetaceans in slavery,
it’s almost over!