Prosecutors are investigating whether more than 100 whales crowded into tiny enclosures on Russia's Pacific Coast are being held illegally.

Eleven Orca and 90 Beluga whales are being held in what local media have dubbed a “whale prison” in a bay near the city of Nakhodka.

It is the largest number of sea creatures to ever be held in small temporary enclosures, independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported. Some of them have been there since July.

Activists also allege that the whales are being sold to Chinese aquariums, despite the fact that the animals may only be captured for scientific and educational work following a worldwide moratorium on commercial whale hunting in 1982.

On Monday, local media published a video of a crane lifting a whale into a tank on shore, reporting that the animals were being prepared for transport to an unknown destination.