An Olympic tragedy

Oh Russia. Why? As media attention turns once again towards the 2014 Winter Olympics, the spotlight falls on the host city – the resort of Sochi on the Black Sea.  In a series of spectacularly ill-advised public relations stunts, the Russian organising committee has shown it is not only out of touch with the rest of the world but is also at odds with the International Olympic Committee’s own environmental mandate!

First came word that a wild-caught Black Sea dolphin would be participating in the torch bearing ceremony and then, more recently, the devastating news that seven wild orcas had been captured in the Russian Far East to supply domestic and international marine parks. WDC has learned that two of these orcas are now on their way to Sochi to be put on display and provide ‘entertainment’ to Sochi’s Olympic visitors. As WDC’s Erich Hoyt says, “these will be the first orcas ever displayed in public in Russia. A sad day for Russia, a sad thing for the Olympics, a very sad situation for 2 orcas who now will be flying across 7 time zones, some 7,427 kilometres (4,614 miles) to spend the rest of what remains of their lives in captivity”.

Please send the Olympic organising committee the strong message that intelligent, sentient whales and dolphins belong in the ocean and not in a tank. Sign and share this petition.

Help support our work to protect these amazing whales by adopting an orca.