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That's plushcare.com/weight loss. An

1:16

extraordinary evacuation has just taken place

1:19

of two beluga whales from war-torn

1:21

Ukraine. They traveled hundreds

1:23

of kilometers in a race against time to

1:25

reach a new safe home in Spain. We're

1:29

going to hear more about that mammoth mission shortly. But

1:32

what's interesting about this is how it's raised

1:34

questions about keeping whales in captivity in the

1:36

first place. So in this

1:38

episode we're going to look at which countries still house

1:40

whales. How the conversation

1:43

around using them for entertainment has changed.

1:45

And how a group of

1:47

South Korean activists called the Hot Pink

1:49

Dolphins is campaigning for change. I'm

1:52

William Lee Adams and this is What in the

1:54

World from the BBC World Service. is

2:00

Mora from the What in the World team.

2:02

Mora, hello. Hello. So, Mora,

2:05

as we know, Russia's war in Ukraine's been going

2:07

on for more than two years now, and

2:09

the United Nations says at least 10,000

2:12

civilians have been killed since Russia invaded

2:14

in February 2022. Our

2:17

colleagues over at the BBC's Ukraine cast cover

2:19

the human toll of the war regularly, but

2:22

today you're going to talk about another cost,

2:24

that to animals. What led you

2:26

to this? As you know, William, I love

2:28

a nature story. So the other day when I was

2:31

scrolling through X, formerly known as Twitter,

2:33

I spotted this story about beluga whales

2:35

being evacuated from Ukraine and it instantly

2:38

caught my attention. When you

2:40

hear about the war, we often hear about

2:42

the city of Harkiv as it's

2:44

close to Russia and as a key battleground,

2:46

and we hear about the human impact. This

2:49

piece described how bombs were falling

2:51

just a few hundred meters from

2:53

the city's aquarium and these belugas.

2:56

Before we go any further into the dangers

2:58

that they faced, could you clarify for folks

3:00

who don't know the difference between a sperm

3:02

whale, a white whale, an orca? What

3:04

exactly is a beluga? Yeah,

3:06

absolutely. So a killer whale,

3:09

also known as an orca, is the huge black

3:11

and white one. People might recognize these guys from

3:13

the film Free Willy. A sperm

3:15

whale, another kind of popular one you might have

3:17

heard of, is grey. It's huge and it has

3:20

the world's biggest brain. And then

3:22

belugas, they're light grey or kind of

3:24

white, and they have a bulbous and

3:26

melon-like head. They're one of the smallest

3:28

species of the whale, and they're native

3:31

in the Arctic. So because

3:33

they're native in the Arctic, it means they have to

3:35

live in really, really cold conditions. So the aquarium

3:37

where they lived in Ukraine, because of

3:39

the power cuts, they were struggling to

3:41

keep the water cold enough. So that

3:43

was one of the reasons they decided

3:45

to transfer them to a new aquarium

3:47

in Valencia, in Spain. Sounds like quite

3:50

the mission. Yep. It involved

3:52

a 12-hour drive through an active

3:54

war zone, European border

3:56

control, a chartered plane and a

3:58

specialized trauma team. So

4:00

their evacuation is believed to be the

4:03

most complex marine mammal rescue ever undertaken.

4:06

I reached out to one of the people

4:08

involved in this rescue, his name is Dr.

4:10

Daniel Garcia Paraga, who works for Oceanographic, the

4:12

aquarium in Valencia where the whales will be

4:15

sent, and he sent us this. Belugas

4:17

has transported frequently, but the

4:20

problem or the special conditions

4:23

of the war really were making

4:26

this transport very limited.

4:28

I would say in the

4:30

resources to be available, in the possibilities

4:33

to check the animals beforehand. So we

4:35

typically take many months

4:37

to prepare this kind of transport. In

4:40

this case, we didn't have the needed time.

4:42

The bombing was occurring in

4:44

the area. So basically the animals

4:46

were at a stress level from

4:49

the beginning quite high in addition to

4:51

the transport itself. And of

4:53

course we need to include a lot of ice because

4:55

it was very warm

4:57

actually in Ukraine and Moldova. So because

4:59

Belugas are arctic animals, we really need

5:02

to maintain temperature of this water where

5:04

the animals were maintained during the transport.

5:06

He mentioned the arctic there and these

5:08

whales of course were evacuated from Ukraine,

5:10

which is not in the arctic, and

5:13

they were taken to Spain, which is

5:15

also not in the arctic. How

5:17

have people reacted to the fact that the whales

5:19

weren't simply freed back into the wild? First

5:22

off, many people have praised this rescue mission

5:24

because it's got the Belugas out of a

5:26

dangerous situation, a war situation and to safety.

5:29

But as you say, some have questioned why

5:31

they weren't released into the wild. And the

5:33

reason for that is because they've been in

5:35

captivity for too long. They're too reliant on

5:37

human care. So if they were released into

5:40

the wild, they'd struggle to survive, to feed

5:42

for themselves. This has

5:44

also opened up a conversation about

5:46

captivity more generally. Right. So

5:48

let's zoom out then. Do we know how

5:50

many whales are currently held in captivity around

5:52

the world? Can you take a guess? Okay,

5:55

two in Kharkiv. Oi, oi, oi. A

5:58

thousand. And... Not

6:00

enough. It's estimated that there's around 3,500

6:02

captive cetaceans. That's

6:05

like a whole city of whales. Yeah,

6:07

and it's important to note that, I

6:09

mean, cetaceans, when they say that, is

6:11

whales, dolphins, and porpoises. I've

6:14

been speaking to someone who works

6:16

in this field to protect cetaceans.

6:18

His name's Rob Law. He works

6:20

for whale and dolphin conservation. And

6:23

he broke down which countries have the most.

6:25

So there are very many of these

6:27

facilities in Asia. China has about a

6:30

third of all the facilities on the

6:32

planet today in excess of

6:34

100 different facilities there. And

6:36

Japan also is a major contributor

6:39

to the industry. In Europe, we

6:41

have about 14 countries still have

6:43

these facilities, 29 facilities

6:47

in Europe, and the majority of those, well,

6:49

10 of those are in Spain. And

6:51

how it's in just under 300 whales and dolphins.

6:53

So you heard there from Rob that China

6:56

now accounts for a third of all facilities.

6:58

I found this really interesting. In the past

7:00

five years, the country has seen a boom

7:02

in marine parks being built. And it's understood

7:04

that an additional 34 are

7:06

currently under construction across the country. Do we

7:09

know what's behind that boom? It's

7:11

thought that China has a rapidly growing

7:13

middle class. And it means that there's

7:15

lots of people with disposable cash to

7:17

spend on things like entertainment. And that's

7:19

what a lot of these facilities are,

7:21

they're entertainment. If you search for orca

7:23

parks on YouTube, for example, there's videos

7:25

of them doing full front flips of

7:28

jumping out the water, twirling in midair

7:30

as crowds go crazy and clap and

7:32

cheer. I found it

7:34

kind of odd in a way because it looks so

7:36

unnatural for them to do that. I mean, you wouldn't

7:38

see an orca to front flips in the wild. But

7:41

there are other welfare issues too. Here's

7:43

Rob again. Whales and dolphins,

7:46

they're just incredibly big, they're

7:48

highly intelligent, emotionally complex, and

7:50

just inherently unsuited for life in

7:52

a tank. And that's a key part

7:55

of our message is to try to get people

7:57

to understand that it might be an exciting

7:59

time. day out for a few hours for them,

8:01

but just, you

8:03

know, the whales and dolphins that have to endure

8:06

these conditions day after day, week after week.

8:08

And, you know, they live an

8:11

impoverished life, an often shorter life than they

8:13

would in the wild. I've heard

8:15

the argument by some people who work in

8:17

these facilities that actually when they live in

8:20

captivity, they can be happier because they don't

8:22

have to worry about external threats, they get

8:24

five meals a day. How do

8:26

you kind of argue with that? I think

8:29

if you think about

8:31

how these individuals would live

8:33

in the wild, you know, Orcas, for

8:36

example, can easily travel over 100 miles a day.

8:38

To replicate that in a

8:40

tank, an orca would have to swim around its tank

8:42

1400 times. You

8:44

know, these tanks are just over 10 meters

8:47

deep, you know, it's very difficult for them

8:49

to dive, they've evolved to used echolocation. But

8:52

obviously that's futile in a concrete

8:55

environment with just echoing back from,

8:58

you know, a concrete wall and

9:00

removed from their family members and everything

9:02

that they get to associate with the

9:04

ocean. So their mental, physical, social needs

9:06

just cannot be met under captive conditions.

9:12

Are perceptions changing then? I'd say they

9:14

are. I don't know if you remember

9:16

a documentary called Blackfish, which came out

9:19

about 10 years ago. It follows the

9:21

story of Tilakum, a performing orca at

9:23

SeaWorld in America. And he,

9:26

unlike any orca in the wild, ended

9:28

up killing several people. So the

9:31

documentary revealed that his cruel treatment

9:33

led him being aggressive, essentially because

9:35

he had post-traumatic stress disorder induced

9:37

by life in captivity. Imagine a

9:39

life where you could only swim

9:42

two body lengths or take two

9:44

steps and then you had to

9:46

turn around and swim

9:48

the other direction. Tilakum just sat

9:50

listlessly in his pool for

9:53

most of every day of his life.

9:55

He was deconditioned, he had a collapsed

9:57

dorsal fin, he neurotically chewed off or

9:59

grinded down all of his teeth. So

10:02

it's a tragic life for any cetacean,

10:04

but especially for the largest cetacean ever

10:06

to be housed in captivity. That

10:09

was Geoffrey Ventry, the Wales former trainer,

10:11

speaking to the BBC after the documentary

10:13

came out. Now the park has since

10:15

called the film propaganda, but at the

10:17

time it sparked a massive public outcry

10:19

against orca captivity. When I was researching

10:22

for this interview and Googling whale captivity,

10:24

that film kept coming up. So it's

10:26

very much part of the discourse. Would

10:28

you say that it had an impact

10:30

and is it still having an impact?

10:32

One thing that stands out is in

10:34

2016, SeaWorld announced that it was going

10:36

to end its orca breeding programme and

10:38

that the orca that currently has will

10:40

be the last. So that's a move

10:43

which at least in par is a

10:45

result of that public pressure. I asked

10:47

Rob about this too about public opinion

10:49

and if it's changing and he agrees.

10:52

I think the moral argument and public opinion

10:54

is shifting. So there are many countries now

10:56

that are either bringing in bands or looking

10:58

to phase out whale and

11:01

dolphin captivity. So around the

11:03

world's countries such as Canada, France,

11:05

Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia,

11:08

Hungary, India, Luxembourg and

11:10

Slovenia have all recognised that whales and

11:13

dolphins must never be condemned to life

11:15

in a tank. So

11:19

what about those two belugas who are

11:21

now in Valencia? Well, Dr. Paraga says

11:23

that they seem to have settled in

11:25

nicely and he hopes that they can

11:27

soon join the aquarium's resident beluga family.

11:30

He also sees them as helping fulfil

11:32

the objectives of what he calls the

11:34

modern aquarium. One goal is

11:36

to encourage humans to be curious about nature and

11:38

to want to protect it. Another

11:40

goal is research. They want to

11:43

better understand whale behaviour and how

11:45

changes in the environment impact them.

11:50

So Maura, in this episode we've heard

11:52

about where and why whale captivity is

11:54

being banned. Are there still

11:56

a lot of active campaigns against the

11:58

practice? Absolutely. So we've been mostly talking

12:00

about whales, but I want to introduce

12:03

you to one group based in Jeju

12:05

Island in South Korea called Hot Pink

12:07

Dolphins. I'm sorry. Which,

12:10

as the name suggests, focuses on

12:13

protecting dolphins. So

12:16

I saw these guys in a TV

12:18

documentary a while back, and the first

12:20

thing you notice about them is their

12:22

clothing. They wear these epic, bright pink

12:24

neck-to-toe jumpsuits. Hence the name Hot Pink.

12:26

You got it. So wearing these bright

12:29

colors, they say, helps them find courage

12:31

to fight for the dolphins. I

12:33

got in touch with one of the activists, Oh Yong

12:35

Jai, to tell me more. So

12:41

she's 21 and uses the nickname

12:43

Octopus to, she says, reflect her

12:45

strengths of being intelligent and lovable.

12:48

Hot Pink

12:53

Dolphins is a marine environmental organization that

12:55

promotes the value of life and peace

12:57

through dolphins. In 2011, they

12:59

say they started the first aquarium

13:01

dolphin liberation movement in Korea, starting

13:04

with the release of one back into the wild

13:06

in 2013. And

13:08

since then, they've returned about eight. And

13:10

what I think is interesting about these

13:12

guys is they use art, protests, education,

13:15

music. One of the founders can

13:17

often be seen with a guitar and it's

13:19

all to captivate their audience and raise awareness

13:21

about protecting endangered marine wildlife. So

13:24

the name is Hot Pink Dolphins, but

13:26

are they working with other aquatic life?

13:28

Yeah, they're also campaigning for more marine

13:31

protected areas. These are areas of the

13:33

ocean where governments place limits on human

13:35

activity to protect sea life. Maura, you

13:37

are leaving the studio in a blaze

13:40

of pink. Thank you so much. Thanks,

13:42

William. Thanks

13:48

for listening to this episode of What in

13:51

the World from the BBC World Service. I'm

13:53

William Lee Adams. If you, like

13:55

me, had never heard the phrase aquarium

13:57

dolphin liberation and would like to learn

13:59

even more words. and phrases, then be

14:01

sure to find our Vat Catalog wherever

14:03

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14:05

you next time. Bye. Hey

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