A trainer was caught on video slapping and kicking two beluga whales when they refused to do a stunt.
Dmitry Bachinsky, 32, is a trainer at the Primorsky Oceanarium in Russia and he lashed out at the two whales, named Nil and Lear.
According to reports, Bachinsky was trying to teach the poor animals a trick where they were supposed to kiss him.
Here is the horrific video …
When the whales refused to take part in the trick, the trainer got angry and physically attacked them, smacking one with his hand and kicking the other.
The beluga whale on the left of the video is Nil and he’s 12 years old. The beluga whale on the right is Lear who is 13 years old. Understandably, the video has caused a lot of backlash from animal rights groups and whale lovers.
A source at Primorsky Oceanarium is reported saying that the captive whales often show aggression towards one another during mating periods and that Bachinsky was trying to switch the attention of the aggressive animals.
It’s clear on the video, though, that this isn’t training … it’s a beating. The incident happened on the fifth of May but has only recently gotten public attention.
This isn’t the first time the Russian oceanarium has had problems. In 2017, a beluga whale died after getting tangled in nets. In another incident, a trainer beat a walrus. That trainer was fired. Also, three white-barrel dolphins, two walruses, a beluga whale, and a sea lion died at the aquarium.
At Karmagawa and SaveTheReef we’re upset that these beluga whales were treated this way. They have already been taken away from their families and out of their natural environments. They don’t deserve to be physically assaulted like this just because they don’t do a trick. We’re using our channels to expose this type of behavior so that it stops.
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What do you think about the treatment of these two poor beluga whales? Leave a comment below.
(Cover image: Navidim/Shutterstock)