In the Tuguro-Chumikansky District of the Khabarovsk Territory, an employee of the Emergencies Ministry, Alexei Paramonov, saved three beluga whales that had been washed ashore. A resident of the village of Chumikan, who found two adult belugas and a calf on the bank of the Uda River, reported the incident to Paramonov, a senior inspector of the State Inspection Office for Small Vessels.

“When the Emergencies Ministry employee arrived at the scene, he saw that two adult belugas and a calf were stranded on land a kilometre and a half from the shoreline. One of the adults was in a dangerous position, lying on its side. The inspector had to dig a hole under the whale and turn it right side up. The next step was to protect them from predators and people, and also to prevent dehydration by constantly pouring water over their skin and eyes. Alexei put a towel on top of the calf to prevent hypothermia. He stood watch until dark, when animals and poachers no longer posed a threat. Around midnight, the whales safely went out to sea on their own with the tide,” the Emergencies Ministry regional office said in a statement. Before joining the State Inspection Office for Small Vessels, Alexei Paramonov gained extensive experience in marine research expeditions. While working at the Emergencies Ministry, he has assisted scientists in studying marine animals. Therefore, when the situation allowed, the senior inspector took blood samples for scientific purposes, which he later prepared at the laboratory to send for research to the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

This was not the first time that Alexei Paramonov had to rescue beluga whales. Last year, three adult belugas also ended up on a shoal at the mouth of the Uda River. The whales were attacked and wounded by crows and gulls, but they were saved thanks to the caring people who found them and promptly informed the Emergencies Ministry employee, as well as Paramonov's professionalism.