With profound sorrow we must report that the first ever Russian orca captive, a young female, is dead after less than one month. The circumstances of her death are unclear. However, it is quite possible that she died of shock, suffered internal injuries during transportation, or starved to death because she refused food. We will probably never know the exact cause of death, but we do know that this was an unnecessary waste of a young life. The dead orca was probably about 6 years of age. She was captured off the coast of Kamchatka in Russia’s far eastern waters on September 26th and transported to a Black Sea facility operated by the Utrish Dolphinarium on October 5th. Her death occurred on or close to October 23rd. We do not know whether Russian hunters have been pursuing other orcas in recent weeks, but capture permits issued for 2003 expire today, October 31st. We can only hope that no further captures have happened and that the government of the Russian Federation has a change of heart and refuses to allow orcas to be captured next year, or ever again!
Please join the world wide protest against Russian orca captures by following the suggestions in our Action Alert: http://www.orcalab.org/news-archive/captivity/10-12-03.html.
News release from OrcaLab regarding death of Russian orca: Microsoft Word Document
