In a “high-risk” operation, two beluga whales were flown and transported by road from an aquarium in the war-torn Ukraine to Spain, officials at their new home announced on Wednesday.
The two whales, Plombir, 15, and Miranda, 14, arrived “in delicate health” at the Oceanagrafic aquarium in Valencia, Spain’s Mediterranean port on Tuesday night, according to officials there.
The aquarium released a statement stating that they had finished “a gruelling journey across the war zone”.
The first way they were moved was by land, taking twelve hours to go from the NEMO Dolphinarium in Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, to Odesa, the country’s southern port.
Following medical examinations, they were transported across the border to Moldova’s capital, Chisinau, from which they were flown to Valencia aboard a six-seat chartered aircraft.
“The high-risk, complex rescue operation presented numerous challenges and required multi-national collaboration,” the statement said.
The rescue involved experts from SeaWorld and Georgia Aquarium in the United States.
The belugas in Valencia are being cared for by a group of medical and nutritional specialists, and two Ukrainian nannies will accompany them for a few weeks to aid in their adjustment.
“This courageous rescue constitutes a historic milestone worldwide in terms of animal protection,” said the head of the regional government of Valencia, Carlos Mazon.
The second-largest city in Ukraine, Kharkiv, has been under increased Russian artillery assault in recent weeks, with bombs dropping only a few hundred meters from the aquarium housing the whales.
Daniel Garcia-Parraga, director of zoological operations at Oceanografic aquarium in Valencia, stated that the whales’ chances of survival would have been extremely low if they had remained in Kharkiv.
The NEMO Dolphinarium in Kharkiv had evacuated a number of seals, sea lions, and dolphins since Russia invaded the country in 2022; however, because of their size, the evacuation of the beluga whales took months of planning.
