Wild killer whales captured in Russia for overseas marine parks, activists say

The seven whales were collected in two separate captures — three in mid-August and four sometime later — according to Erich Hoyt, a research fellow with the activist group Whale and Dolphin Conservation and the author of "Orca: The Whale Called Killer."

Seven wild killer whales have been captured off the eastern coast of Russia in recent months, according to a conservation group, in what activists say appears to be an effort to stock some overseas marine parks.

Hoyt said at least four — and probably all — of the animals are now being held in a facility near Vladivostok in southeastern Russia, where they have joined a young female killer whale named "Narnia" who was captured last year.

Hoyt said the orcas were captured under permits obtained by a Russian company called White Sphere, which, according to its website, designs, builds and operates "dolphinariums" and other marine-life attractions. It currently manages "Aquatoria," a marine park in the Ukraine, and aquariums in Sochi, Russia, and Hurgahda, Egypt, among other facilities.

The company says its "partners" include the International Association of Amusement Park and Attractions, the U.S.-based trade group representing the theme-park industry, and ProSlide Technology Inc., a Canadian company that builds water rides for clients such as SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. and Walt Disney Co.

"We had rumors that two [of the captured killer whales] were going to a Chinese aquarium and two were going to Moscow. But just rumors," Hoyt said.

Wild killer-whale captures are extremely rare, both because captures are very expensive and logistically difficult and because they can trigger an international uproar. Before Narnia was captured last year, Hoyt said he believed the last capture — as opposed to rescue — happened 15 years ago in Taiji, Japan.

The eight killer whales were taken out of the same sea as 18 beluga whales that a consortium of U.S. aquarium owners — led by the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and including Orlando-based SeaWorld Entertainment — have been trying to import. The National Marine Fisheries Service in August rejected an import permit but the Georgia Aquarium has sued to overturn the decision.

A spokesman for SeaWorld, which owns approximately half of the world's captive killer whales, said the company has not provided any support for the killer-whale captures in Russia nor was it even aware of the activity "beyond rumors on the Internet."

"If there was a killer-whale collection in the Sea of Okhotsk, SeaWorld had nothing to do with it," spokesman Fred Jacobs said.

SeaWorld says it has not collected a killer whale from the wild in more than 35 years because of the success of its own breeding program, though the company has acquired animals such as "Morgan," a young whale rescued off the coast of the Netherlands in 2010 who was later deemed unfit for release and transferred to a Spanish marine park where SeaWorld keeps some of its whales. Some anti-captivity groups, who argue that Morgan could be successfully reintroduced to the wild, have sued in hopes of having her set free.

SeaWorld declined to weigh in on the new Russia captures. "I'm afraid we can't render an opinion on a collection that we know nothing about it," Jacobs said.

jrgarcia@tribune.com or 407-420-5414