Today the team of Jean-Michel Cousteau met with the leaders of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Russia.

Jean-Michel expressed his gratitude to the Russian government for the invitation and the opportunity to help Russian specialists to find a solution in the situation with the whale jail, and also told about the experience of rehabilitation of killer whales.

The head of the Ministry of Environment Dmitry Kobylkin said that the release of orcas and beluga whales is planned for this summer.

“No matter how good a golden cage is, it is clear that there is nothing better than letting animals go into the natural environment,” the minister stated. He also expressed the hope that the recommendations developed during the joint discussion on the rehabilitation of killer whales and beluga whales would help to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

– It is important for us to save animals, this is our main task. We are now together in the same team, – said Dmitry Kobylkin, turning to Mr. Cousteau.

State Duma Deputy Vladimir Burmatov said that the most important thing is to ensure the healthy return of orcas and beluga whales to their natural habitat. He also offered to install a webcam in the “whale jail” so that everyone can go into a special application on the gadget and see how the rehabilitation process is going, to make sure everyone is alive and healthy.

We share the position of the head of the Ministry of Environment and we also believe that orcas and belugas should be returned to freedom this summer. However, the work of the commission, which will make a final decision on the fate of animals, is still lead by VNIRO. Whether this institute supports the opinion of Dmitry Kobylkin is still questionable.

It is known that VNIRO and its branches have a serious conflict of interest and are in favor of captures. Russian Fisheries and VNIRO have already begun the procedure of public discussion of the materials of the total allowable catch (TAC) of marine mammals for 2020, in which they offered to capture 10 killer whales and 282 beluga whales. Despite the instructions of the President of Russia, VNIRO has not yet included a single representative of our coalition in the commission, however, they involved Moskumrium and Primorsky aquarium to decide the fate of animals.

We are waiting for the expert opinion of the specialists of the Cousteau team. Today they are flying to Vladivostok, where they will meet with the head of the Primorsky Territory Oleg Kozhemyako. On Saturday, April 6, the Cousteau team will go to the “whale jail” to personally inspect the animals, assess their condition and give recommendations for successful rehabilitation and return to freedom.

➡Video from D. Kobylkin’s personal meeting with Mr. Cousteau can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ9DbX87rt4

Video from the meeting of the Interdepartmental Expert Group with Jean-Michel Cousteau: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dOpST7mF8I