Scientists of the all-Russian research Institute of fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) continue to monitor the migrations of killer whales and Beluga whales released into the wild during June-August, 2019.
Some of the satellite tags placed on the animals before their release are still functioning, although many orcas have torn them off, apparently already being part of wild families.
Data from working satellite tags indicate the beginning of migration of killer whales from the Shantar region of the sea of Okhotsk to the southern latitudes in November-December, 2019.
One killer whale has already passed 1 800 km from the area of summer hunting near the Shantar Islands and is now exploring the open waters to the South-East of the island of Hokkaido. Another killer whale is moving in a South-easterly direction, recently it has passed the Paramushir island of the Kuril Islands chain.
Beluga whales released in 2019 in the Sakhalin Bay, with the departure of killer whales hunters migrated to the area of the Shantar Islands to the places of their traditional residency during the winter. Beluga whales released in November 2019 in the sea of Japan near the Lazovsky nature reserve, dispersed along the Primorye coast. These Belugas were repeatedly observed by scientists of the Lazovsky nature reserve, employees of the tourist bases and environmental activists at different sites of the Primorie coast. Beluga whales have also been seen in the port of Nakhodka and even in the area of the Russkyi Island near Vladivostok.
"The video of Beluga whales that come to us shows that their behavior is similar to that of wild relatives. They move in groups and hunt on their own. Contact with people do not go and the animals have never being begging for food", - said the press Secretary of VNIRO Alexey Smorodov.
Scientists continue to collect facts that will help us to better understand the wild life of orcas and Beluga whales.
VNIRO press office
