Dear friends,

Over 900,000 people from all around the world have joined our campaign to release orcas and beluga whales from the “Whale jail” in Primorskiy region of Russia. I am touched and inspired by your support. The petition started by me and a group of Russian activists is now the subject of public scrutiny in Europe, the US and Australia and covered by international media.

Thanks to your signatures and persistence we are getting support from celebrities and public personalities —  together we are keeping the pressure on Russian authorities.

Yesterday Leonardo di Caprio shared our petition in his Facebook and Twitter asking his followers to sign and share it! A couple of days ago Pamela Anderson called on the Russian president to speed up the release of the animals.

And a world famous ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau also asked Vladimir Putin to release orcas and belugas. He even offered his assistance to prepare the animals for rehabilitation and release.

This is huge and made possible because of your support!

I am confident that all this international attention to the “whale jail” and the involvement of celebrities in particular, will keep on putting pressure on the Russian authorities to act quickly. Great news is that top level politicians have already responded to our petition and started discussing the possibility of releasing orcas and belugas.

The Minister of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kobylkin, acknowledging how much the public cares about the situation, stated that the release of marine mammals should occur in the very near future. Chairman of the State Duma, Committee on Ecology and Environmental Protection, Vladimir Burmatov, has declared he is personally looking into this issue. Governor of Primorye region has responded to our petition directly on Change.org.

Now we need more than commitments: we need action.

Time is running out for the orcas and belugas. Last week we’ve learned that one of the orcas from the “whale jail” has gone missing and is feared dead.

This could be baby orca Kirill, that appeared to be seriously ill lately….

Members of the Free Russian Whales Coalition, who were able to visit the facility last month, said it would be nearly impossible for a whale to break out. Three Beluga whales that disappeared from the “whale jail” in December are also suspected to have died….

It is more urgent than ever to show our support— we need just a small push to win.

Please keep sharing our petition - www.change.org/WhaleJail