Reaping International Criticism, Russia Officially Closes 'Whale Prison' In Srednyaya Bay

JAKARTA - Russian authorities have dismantled and closed a notorious facility dubbed the 'whale prison' that kept dozens of mammals in solitary confinement, causing international outcry.

Nearly 100 whales were kept at a secret facility in Srednyaya Bay near the far eastern city of Nakhodka in 2018, before being released after an intensive campaign by animal rights and environmental groups in 2019.

Quoting the Daily Sabah on December 4, the animals that should be protected and conserved were captured and then placed in the aquarium.

The environmental prosecutor's office in the Amur Basin, Russia's Far East announced on Thursday 2 December that the controversial facility had been closed and completely demolished.

"To prevent illegal rearing of marine animals, the floating structure was dismantled," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

"The prison structure has been transferred to the shipyard "under conditions that exclude the possibility of its use for its intended purpose," the office continued.

The decision by the Russian authorities to close and dismantle the facility was welcomed by environmental groups.

"It should have been done a long time ago," said Dmitry Lisitsyn, head of the non-governmental organization Sakhalin Watch which is leading the campaign against prisons.

"We are working hard to close it and free the whale," he said. All of the whales previously locked up in the 'prison', including the 77 species of beluga, are now in the wild.

Lisitsyn further explained that the operation to free the animals was 'very difficult' because most of them were babies who had not adapted to life in the wild.

Because of this, the animals undergo a rehabilitation program before being released into the Sea of Okhotsk which separates Russia's far eastern peninsula from Japan.

Lisitsyn added that the whale prison is the only such facility known in Russia, although the country has other places that keep large marine animals in 'terrible' conditions for show in aquariums.

Please note that many of the whales held at the facility in Sredyaya Bay will be sent to aquariums in China.