Five years after her last companion died and the aquarium’s owner pledged to free her, Bella still languishes in a tiny tank amid shops
Bella in the Lotte World Tower’s bare and cramped aquarium. Beluga whales can live for 50 years in the wild but her two male companions died aged five and 12.Bella in the Lotte World Tower’s bare and cramped aquarium. Beluga whales can live for 50 years in the wild but her two male companions died aged five and 12., a lone beluga whale named Bella swims aimlessly in a tiny, lifeless tank, where she has been trapped for a decade.
Her plight is urgent, with campaigners racing to rescue her from the bare tank in a glitzy shopping centre in South Korea’s capital before it is too late.Bella’s story started in 2013, when she was captured in the Arctic Ocean off the coast of Russia at the age of two. Along with two male belugas, Bello and Belli, she was sold to the aquarium, housed in a mega-mall beneath the 555-metre-high Lotte World Tower, which is owned by one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates.
“They have long lives, and, of course, they have a very complex communication system,” said the marine biologist, who has studied beluga whales for more than two decades. “Keeping such beings in captivity is simply unethical.” The aquarium industry is thriving, in South Korea and elsewhere in Asia. Lotte’s aquarium in Seoul is one of the largest in the region,for display. However, the law does not apply retroactively, meaning that animals already in captivity, such as Bella, can be kept. Campaigners have been calling on Lotte to close the Seoul exhibit entirely.Bella’s transfer to a seaside sanctuary is “the only ethical option”, according to Vergara.
Amid the bureaucratic tangle and different offers from sanctuaries, Bella remains in her tank. Lotte did not respond to a question about her wellbeing.
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