KHABAROVSK, August 6. /TASS/. A third group of killer whales (orcas) held in captivity in the Far East’s Srednyaya Bay, has been released into the Sea of Okhotsk, Secretary of the Russian Research Institute of Fishery and Oceanography Alexei Smorodov told TASS on Tuesday.

"All orcas have been turned loose into the Sea of Okhotsk. Their release was carried out through a tried and successfully tested scenario," Smorodov said, noting that the scientists decided against using cages at the very last moment.

Earlier on Tuesday, he said the mammals would be kept in cages some 500 meters from the coastline for them to readjust prior to their release.

"There was a risk of losing control of the animals if an orca dived deep while in a cage and for some reason got trapped or caught in a net. So, we put all three mammals together in a catamaran’s shipping skid and released them simultaneously when we moved some 700 meters away from the coast," Deputy Director at the Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) Vyacheslav Bizikov said.

Plans to free the third group of mammals

Russia’s Federal Agency for Fishery plans to release all killer whales (orcas) from the "whale jail" in the Far East by September 1, and will later start freeing beluga whales, the agency’s head Ilya Shestakov told reporters on Tuesday.

"In line with our plan, by September 1 we will release all orcas and will start transporting beluga whales," Shestakov said on the sidelines of a TASS conference.

The ultimate goal the specialists pursue now is to release all mammals into the wild this year. "In fact, November is the natural deadline. But at least we set this task for ourselves," Shestakov noted.

The specialists considered various options for releasing the mammals, but in any case the beluga whales and orcas will be taken to the Shantar Islands. "Everything here depends on weather conditions and technical possibilities," he explained.

Eleven orcas had been kept in the facility in Srednyaya Bay along with 90 beluga whales for sale to China. However, three beluga whales went missing, and one orca reportedly disappeared. Criminal charges have been filed over the illegal poaching of these mammals.

In June, the mammals had gradually been moved to the Shantar Islands, to release them into their natural habitat. The first group of mammals, consisting of two orcas and six beluga whales, was freed on June 27. The second batch of three orcas was freed on July 16, and the third group of orcas was dispatched from Primorye to the Khabarovsk Region on August 1.