A prosecutor visited a facility in Primorye where beluga whales are kept. Environmentalists fear the punishment will only be a fine. 

A representative of the Primorye environmental prosecutor's office visited The Primorsky Aquarium's marine mammal research facility, which houses four beluga whales and six spotted seals, was visited. The prosecutor was shown the training process and allowed to pet the animals. Officials will now review the documents. 

According to the prosecutor, the animals appeared "well-fed, well-groomed, and healthy." An ecologist who has worked in the Far East, including with marine mammals, told NeMoskva that the investigation would likely end in fines, and the animals would be left in captivity. 

"I'm afraid the prosecutor's office will find violations that will allow them to fine us, to demonstrate their work, to show that the agency is responding and protecting the animals. But they won't have any fundamental impact on the animals' fate: that requires political will. I'm referring to the violations related to the fact that the belugas are being kept there illegally, in our opinion," the ecologist says. 

He believes that since the belugas were caught for cultural and educational purposes and are used for scientific purposes, there should be results of work since 2011, when the base was established.

The oceanarium claims that conduct hydroacoustic research to deflect marine mammals from fishing nets, also take They sample the animals' blood monthly and study the impact of their living conditions—in their enclosures and at the aquarium itself—on their health. However, no scientific publications on hydroacoustics were found. And the ecologist claims that belugas have nothing to do with this problem. 

"This is fair and justified in regard to seals. They enter set nets and steal fish everywhere they are found. Beluga whales pose no problems for fishermen. If this does happen, it's extremely rare. And if there haven't been any publications, it's a big question mark as to how justified this is in regard to these belugas," the ecologist says. 

Video from the base appeared at the end of last week. At the aquarium they said, that the animals are adapting to life in captivity and that their conditions are decent. Management promised to invite journalists and anyone interested to the base to dispel rumors about the animals' poor condition. But blogger Alexander, who stripped off video, they didn’t invite him—he and his journalist friend weren’t given access to the base, he told NeMoskva. 

Photo: PrimaMedia News Agency