Who can resist a good news rescue story, and when it features a pair of the Earth’s most extraordinary-looking animals what more is there to ask for? Two beluga whales have been rescued from an aquarium in the region of Kharkiv in Ukraine and safely transported thousands of miles to a safe home in Valencia, Spain.
The two beluga whales, a 15-year-old male called Plombir and a 14-year-old female called Miranda, lived life at a Dolphinarium in Kharkiv, which had been evacuating animals since the war between Russia and Ukraine began in 2022. However, moving belugas is a highly complicated effort that took many months of careful planning.
Their epic journey included a 12-hour drive from Kharkiv to Odesa, before crossing the Moldovan border. A small six-seater chartered plane was waiting for the team and the two belugas in Chisinau to fly the group on to Valencia. According to the New York Times, the trip took 36 hours to complete and covered more than 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles).
"This courageous rescue constitutes a historic milestone worldwide in terms of animal protection. It is an honor that the Oceanogràfic [de Valencia] has rescued these two belugas from the horror of the war in Ukraine. They have experienced a difficult situation in recent months, and the experts at Oceanogràfic will be working intensely to help them recover," said Carlos Mazón, the president of the Valencia region Generalitat Valenciana, in a statement.
Miranda and Plombir will start their new life at the Oceanogràfic Valencia, the largest aquarium in Europe and the only one with the facilities to care for beluga whales. Two Ukrainian caregivers will stay with the whales for the first two weeks to help with their transition into their new environment.
"The war has caused food, energy and medicine shortages, reducing access to other basic necessities for animal care as well as technical supplies necessary for the logistics of such a sensitive rescue," said Dr Daniel Garcia-Párraga, director of zoological operations at Oceanogràfic. "The belugas have a suboptimal body condition to undertake this type of trip, but if they had continued in Kharkiv, their chances of survival would have been very slim."
In the wild, beluga whales are extremely social animals that typically live in groups and return to the same area every year to calve, explains the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . They are known as the “canaries of the sea” because of their huge range of vocalisaztions, including whistles, squeals, and clicks. They have flexible head melons that can change shape to aid in their communication.
"The belugas are being cared for in separate areas that are not accessible or viewable by the public while they undergo recovery and acclimation," said Garcia. "We will be providing updates on their health and well-being as things evolve. We are extremely grateful to everyone who assisted in this rescue."
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