Orcas loaded onto trucks as Russia releases more from ‘whale jail’

Three orcas were loaded onto trucks at a controversial facility in Russia’s Far East yesterday as the country continues to release animals from what the media have dubbed a “whale jail”.

The secluded facility near the port town of Nakhodka contains dozens of orcas and beluga whales which were caught to be sent to aquariums, but are now being set free after a global outcry and intervention by President Vladimir Putin. Last month two orcas, also known as killer whales, and six belugas were released after a six-day trip north to their original habitat in the Sea of Okhotsk. They were first driven in trucks with a police escort and then shipped on a barge.

The three whales loaded onto trucks on Thursday, one male and two females, are expected to be released following a similar journey. A correspondent at the scene observed employees removing the transparent roof of the floating dock housing the killer whale pens.