'Trapped', the snow installation urging to free orca and beluga whales in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

Currently more than hundred sea mammals are kept in cramped enclosures of the Centre of Marine Mammals Adaption in Srednyaya Bay near Nakhodka.

The animals were caught to be exported for ocean theme parks in China in mid-autumn 2018.

The sale was barred by the Russian government which determined that the catch permits were issued illegally.

Recent inspection by FSB and marine specialists raised concerns over the sea mammals fate, as experts saw multiple signs of illnesses on orcas and beluga whales skin.

They also said that at least three Orca whales were missing and were feared dead.

Vladimir Putin pictured with a white whale in 2009, and aerial pictures of the Centre of Marine Mammals Adaption in Srednyaya Bay near Nakhodka

The appeal to rescue the whales and set them free was sent to Vladimir Putin by the prominent ocean explorer, French environmentalist Jean-Michel Cousteau and three other leaders of the Keiko/Free Willy Project, that successfully returned the orca Keiko to home waters in Iceland.

‘We are hopeful the Russian government will work to release the orcas and belugas back to the ocean where they belong, but the task of doing so is daunting’, said renowned ocean expert Jean-Michel Cousteau Mr Cousteau, 80, who offered his and his colleagues help and advise in releasing the sea mammals.

‘We further encourage the Russian government to lead in returning the current captives (11 orcas and 87 beluga whales) to their home waters and family pods.

‘We are pleased to offer our expertise to this effort in any way that can be useful to the Russian government and scientific community.’

Vladimir Putin pictured fixing a transmitter onto a white whale in 2009 to monitor her migration routes, and aerial pictures of the Centre of Marine Mammals Adaption in Srednyaya Bay near Nakhodka

Vladimir Putin is a patron of a White Whale programme.

In 2009 he was pictured on the Chkalov island in the sea of Okhotsk, fixing a transmitter to a white whale called Dasha to monitor her migration routes.

Let them go! Call to end the torture of killer and beluga whales