The Russian Captures

The Russian Captures are a collection of killer whales that are being held in captivity, but limited knowledge to the public is known about them. The current number of Russian captures since 2012 is approximately 30-33 (including 10 which were released in 2019).

The first of the Russian orcas captures was Narnia in 2012. Narnia was held in a seapen for some time before being moved to VDNKh Exhibition Center in Moscow.

In August 2013, three killer whales were captured together – two males and a female. One of the males (Tyson) and a female (Nukka) were sent to Chimelong Ocean in China, whereas the other male, named Nord, joined Narnia at the VDNKh Exhibition Center. 

A further three killer whales were captured in October 2013. Two were sent to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in China, whereas one went to an unknown facility. 

Four killer whales were captured in July 2014 off Russian waters. Three went to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom. One of the four captured was named Naja and joined Narnia and Nord at the Moskvarium.

Controversy arose when some of the Russian killer whales were due to be displayed at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. The public petitioned and successfully blocked the display of any orcas at the Russian Olympics games.

In July 2015, three more killer whales were captured in Russia. Two of them remained unnamed, whilst a female was named Malvina. Five whales resided at Seaside Dolphinairum but there has since been transfers and only Malvina resided there, until her possible death or escape. Another four were captured sometime in 2015, and were held at the Dalian Laohutan Ocean Park in China. In November 2018 they were moved to the Shanghai Haichang Polar Ocean World, and have since been named Xiaoen, Panghu, Dora and Cookie. 

Two more orcas were captured in 2016, and reside at Wuxi Changqiao Ocean Kingdom in China. 

In 2018 the world became aware of another wave of Russian captured orcas and belugas held in what was known as "Whale Jail", at the Center for Adaption of Marine Mammals in Srednyaya Bay. A total of 87 belugas and 11 orcas were held there. Drone footage of the enclosures led to international outcry. Russian's president, Vladimir Putin became involved and the whales were eventually released by November 2019.

Since 2019, five calves have been born at Chimelong Spaceship, two born at Shanghai Haichang Ocean World and Naja gave birth the end of 2023 but the calf sadly passed away a month later. It's not fully known whether China is holding any other orcas. There is potentially another two being held at a facility being built at SunAsia Beluga Whale World.

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Due to the lack of information, the below list may have errors:

China = 22

Chimelong Spaceship, China

-Tyson (2013)

-Nukka (2013)

-Bandhu (2013)

-Chad (2013)

-Kaixin (2013)

-Katenka (2014)

-Nakhod (2014)

-Jade (2015)

-Sonya (2015)

-Yilong (2019)

-Loki (2021)

-Katniss (2022)

-Unnamed Calf (2022 or 2023?)

-Wulong (2023)

Wuxi Changqiao Ocean Kingdom, China

-Unnamed, unknown gender (held since 2017)

-Unnamed, unknown gender (held since 2017)

Shanghai Haichang Polar Ocean World, China
-Xiaoen (2015)

-Panghu (2015)

-Dora (2015)
-Cookie (2015) 

-Cody (2021)

-Dora's Calf (2023)

Russia - 1

Moskvarium, Moscow, Russia

-Naja (07/2014)

-Narnia* (08/2012 - 2023)

-Nord* (08/2013 - 2023)

-Naja's Calf* (2023 - 2024)

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Seaside Dolphinarium, Nakhodka, Russia 

-Malvina* (07/2015) - Has possibly died or escaped

Center for the Adaption of Marine Mammals, Srednyaya Bay, Russia - released in summer 2019
-Alexandra (08/2018) 
-Forest (08/2018)
-Gaika (08/2018)
-Harja (08/2018)
-Leha (08/2018)
-Kirill* (08/2018) - possibly escaped or died in Feb 2019
-Tihon (08/2018)
-Vasillievena (08/2018)
-Vitas (08/2018)
-Zina (08/2018)
-Zoya (08/2018)