Beluga whale to be rescued from captivity in shopping mall aquarium

A campaign has been launched in Seoul to save Bella, a beluga whale that has been kept in a small aquarium at a shopping mall for ten years, The Guardian reports . According to Cho Yak-gol, a representative of the marine conservation group Hot Pink Dolphins, Lotte Group, which owns the aquarium, said five years ago that it would release the whale, but the promise has never been fulfilled. Activists have launched a petition demanding the animal's immediate release.

According to the publication, Bella ended up in the mega-mall aquarium in 2013, when she was caught in the Arctic Ocean at the age of two. Along with her were two male beluga whales - Bello and Belly. Three years later, Bello died, barely reaching the age of five, while the life expectancy of beluga whales in the wild is from 35 to 50 years. Three years later, 12-year-old Belly died. After the incident, Lotte Group said that it would release Bella, but the implementation of this decision is delayed.

According to The Guardian, the aquarium is very small for the animal. Whales can grow up to five and a half meters in length, and the depth of the aquarium is only seven meters.

According to Valeria Vergara, a representative of the Raincoast Conservation Fund, who spoke to the publication, “keeping such creatures in captivity is extremely unethical,” and Bella needs to be transferred to a coastal reserve: “They have a long life and a complex communication system. They communicate with each other to such an extent that they help raise each other’s cubs,” she said.

Since 2014, keeping wild animals in aquariums has become especially popular in Asian countries. However, in December 2023, South Korea banned the purchase of whales and dolphins for exhibitions, but this law does not apply to animals already in captivity.

Bella is one of five beluga whales in captivity in South Korea. Three others are at Geoje Sea World and one is at Aqua Planet Yeosu.

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