Chained Manatee in “Underwater Prison” (Fact Check)

One article shows a chained manatee in a sort of “underwater prison.” Hundreds of whales are said to have been detained.

Underwater prison for manatees and whales – the most important thing to start with:

1. One article mixes two different stories of different marine mammals being held captive.
2. The photo was taken in 2016 and shows a chained manatee in an Indonesian bay.
3. In 2018, 100 whales were detained near Vladivostok in the Sea of ​​Japan.

This is about the following article:

Drone footage reveals over 100 whales trapped in hidden underwater prisons

The fact check

Here the photo doesn't fit the story. The animal shown is a manatee, which is not classified as a whale. Today there are still four living species of manatees - they are considered endangered.

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The photo was taken by divers who found the animals during a dive on the coast of Kokoya Island, Indonesia, in 2016. A local fisherman had caught a mother and her calf and locked them underwater for tourist purposes and chained the older animal. After the divers posted the photos and videos online, the marine mammals were freed.

Bu @susipudjiastuti mau lapor ada dugong ditangkap dan diikat di Pulau Kokoya oleh Nelayan.. Kondisinya mengenaskan! pic.twitter.com/i9pZiDjFc4

— G.Riyadi (@GaluhRiyadi) March 13, 2016

So much for the photo, let's move on to the content of the article entitled "Drone footage revealed 100 whales in a hidden underwater prison" . Yes, marine mammals were detained in this case too.

The scandal became public in autumn 2018. Not only Russian media reported widely on the incident:

The plant was discovered near Vladivostok, Russia, in a bay on the Sea of ​​Japan. The “whale prison,” as animal rights activists called it, was located on the border with China. Activists feared the whales could be resold to Chinese aquariums.

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Around 90 belugas and 11 orcas were held in the tanks, which were far too small. The facility was rented by four companies. It was unclear what would happen to the animals for around a year until the last whales were released in November 2019.

Conclusion:

Even if the photo is not part of the content, there are two tragic stories that actually happened.

In both cases, the animals were fortunately able to be released back into the wild - where they belong.

In keeping with the topic: Live animals as keychains – fact check

Further sources: Manos a la Obra , nau.ch , Westfalen-Blatt , t-online