On 2 October, 14 beluga whales from Srednyaya Bay in the Primorye Territory were released near the Sakhalin Gulf in the Sea of Okhotsk,  Russian Federal Research Institute of Fishery and Oceanography has reported.

“Researchers, experts and the crew of Vladimir Safonov, a research vessel of the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fishery and Oceanography, completed the operation to release the sea mammals previously kept in Srednyaya Bay under a readaptation and release programme. Fourteen beluga or white whales have been released near the Sakhalin Gulf in the Sea of Okhotsk,” a statement by the institute reads.

The transportation phase, which was scheduled to start on 12 September, was postponed because of the flood on the Amur River. It was decided that the belugas would be transported on board the research vessel Vladimir Safonov. The first beluga whales were delivered to the vessel on 28 September.

Researchers from the Pacific Branch of the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fishery and Oceanography said that the whales coped well with the journey, as the sea was calm.

“The release process went well, thanks to the professional work of the crew,” reads the statement on the institute’s website.

Experts say that further decisions under the readaptation and release programme for marine mammals will be made depending on the transportation and hydrological conditions.

There are 61 beluga whales remaining in Srednyaya Bay in the Primorye Territory.

Natural Resources Minister Dmitry Kobylkin told the media during an SCO meeting held in Moscow in late September that the ministry would not issue fishing permits for beluga and orca whales in the Russian territorial waters in 2020. The Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor) has rejected the fishing application for beluga and orca whales in 2020 as well.