China receives ten wild-caught beluga whales for marine park

It has been reported that in late October ten beluga whales were flown from Vladivostok in Russia to Dalyan Oceanarium in China. The ten beluga whales, two which were captured in 1999 and the rest as recently as 2005 from the Okhotsk Sea between mainland Russia and Chkalov Island, were previously being held together in small pens situated in the Sea of Japan off the coast of Vladivostok.

Beluga whales are marine mammals specifically adapted to Arctic conditions, freezing water and travelling underneath large areas of ice. As free-ranging and social animals they can dive to depths of over half a kilometre and travel hundreds of miles. Therefore to place them in an artificial tank will be restrictive, no matter what size the tank, and could never hope to replicate the complex and diverse conditions which the Arctic provides. As with all marine mammal, the Marine Connection is opposed to the keeping of beluga whales in captivity.

The Dalyan Oceanarium in China is a notorious facility. In 2005 and 2006 the facility has purchased a total of 16 dolphins which were captured during the brutal Japanese drive hunts where over 2000 dolphins are slaughtered every year. The eight dolphins bought this year were transferred under the guise of "academic exchange" which is in total contradicition to the source of the animals. Aquariums such as this are the economic mainstay of the drive hunts, "ordering" animals to replenish their stocks. However, the demand to view marine life in captivity worldwide ensures that these purchases are undertaken.

Take action!

Send a polite email to Minister of the Chinese State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), Mr. Zhou Shengxian, explaining your concern at the recent supply of ten beluga whales to Dalyan Oceanarium and the tranfser of 16 dolphins in the last two year to the same aquarium from the dolphin drive hunts.

Image: © Dave Edwards / CAPS