"Having spent time with these wild, beautiful orcas, I feel personally, as well as professionally, depressed about these developments." - Erich Hoyt of the Far East Russia Orca Project comments on the seven recent orca captures from Russian waters that have occurred over the past two months in his blog update for Whale and Dolphin Conservation, via Russian Orcas.

Read more at: http://us.whales.org/blog/erichhoyt/2013/10/whale-and-dolphin-trafficking-heads-east

via Russian Orcas: Two of the newly captured Russian orcas — a 4-year-old female and an 8-year-old male — are thought to be headed for an aquarium in China. That leaves Narnia, and a mature female in Russia. This mature female could be the mother of the two who are headed for China. One more orca family split up by captors.
(The three newly captured animals reportedly weigh 600 kg; 1300 kg; and 2800 kg)
Two of the newly captured Russian orcas — a 4-year-old female and an 8-year-old male — are thought to be headed for an aquarium in China. That leaves Narnia, and a mature female in Russia. This mature female could be the mother of the two who are headed for China. One more orca family split up by captors. (The three newly captured animals reportedly weigh 600 kg; 1300 kg; and 2800 kg)

An update on the newly captured wild Russian orcas via Russian Orcas: "An adult male, adult female and juvenile female killer whale were captured recently in the Sea of Okhotsk, eastern Russia, about 50 km south of the place where the young female orca Narnia was captured a year ago. They were transported in trucks for more than 1000 km to the south to the net enclosure near Nakhodka (Vladivostok area) and placed in the same net pen where Narnia was kept for the past year. The three captives were reportedly in a very bad condition after the transport. They refused to eat. The trainers could do nothing. Finally, we've heard, that Narnia herself tried something. She brought fish to the three captives and gave it to them. In this way she was responsible for persuading them to eat. This is not the first time one captive has helped others in the same situation.. Regarding the four orcas now in Nakhodka, two of them are rumoured to be headed for Moscow in November to be placed in the Oceanarium which is being built in the All-Russia Exhibition Centre. Two others are rumoured to have been offered for sale abroad." 

To find out more, visit: http://russianorca.com/index.php?lang=en&mode

A date for your diaries: BBC2 Natural World documentary "Killer Whales: Beneath the Surface" will be airing Friday 25th October at 9pm --
http://www.amongwhales.com/2013/09/23/killer-whales-beneath-the-surface-bbc2-natural-world-11th-october/

We have just sent off our submission for the New Zealand Animal Welfare Act Amendment Bill asking that they ban the captive display of cetaceans - now is a great time to do it as there are currently no whales, dolphins or porpoises on display in New Zealand. There really isn't much time left to make a submission, so if this is an important issue for you, please take the time to submit your concerns NOW!

Copy & paste this into your browser if the link doesn't work:http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/sc/make-submission/50SCPP_SCF_00DBHOH_BILL12118_1/animal-welfare-amendment-bill

For more information, visit the Orca Research Trust link: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151885610904496&set=a.302161829495.146935.209672764495&type=1&theater