• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Free Bella: Activists Urge To Release Captive Beluga From Mega Mall In South Korea

May 21, 2024 by Deborah Bloomfield

At a flashy mall in South Korea’s capital, shoppers can gather round for selfies with a lonely beluga as she swims around her tank. Despite promises the whale will be released as soon as possible, campaigners are continuing to push for her release before she suffers the same ill-fate as her former tankmates.

Bella the beluga lives in a tank at the Lotte World Aquarium, located within a towering shopping complex in central Seoul, South Korea. It’s owned by Lotte Corporation, one of South Korea’s largest conglomerate corporations involved in everything from food manufacturing and construction to retail and tourism.

Advertisement

There were originally three beluga whales in the tank, but the two other inhabitants have reportedly died in the past eight years at young ages: a 5-year-old male beluga named Bello passed away in April 2016, followed by the death of 12-year-old Belli in October 2019.

Lotte announced that it would release Bella after the demise of her last tankmate in 2019, although they are yet to do so – and protestors are growing impatient.

Bella the beluga whale at an aquarium in Seoul, surrounding by people.

Activists say Bella is showing signs of boredom and distress in her small tank.

Image courtesy of Hot Pink Dolphins

One of the groups leading the charge to free Bella is Hot Pink Dolphins. Along with staging frequent protests outside the Lotte World Mall, they have teamed up with the Dolphin Project to launch a petition calling for the beluga to be released back into the ocean.

“Jo Yak-gol, co-founder of Hot Pink Dolphins has stated that Bella exhibits behavior of stress and boredom due to her solitary confinement. She is often seen spinning in small circles in her tank, or floating listlessly on the surface of the water,” reads the petition.

Advertisement

“It is time for Lotte to stand behind their commitment to rehabilitate and evaluate Bella for release. She deserves to regain the freedom that was stolen from her,” it adds. 

Beluga are a species of cetacean native to Arctic and sub-Arctic waters. They’re known for their all-white color, their squishy melon-shaped heads, and the absence of a dorsal fin, which helps them to swim under ice. They are one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, an elusive species known for their curiously long tusks that stick out from their heads.

Just like all cetacea, beluga whales are incredibly intelligent and sensitive animals. They have a reputation for being curious, gentle, and social – characteristics that make them appealing to humans, but also incompatible with living in captivity.

A group of protestors from Hot Pink Dolphins standing Infront of a beluga tank with signs in South Korea.

Hot Pink Dolphins and other groups frequently protest against Bella’s captivity.

Image courtesy of Hot Pink Dolphins

South Korea passed a law in 2023 that banned the purchase of new dolphins and whales for display. However, the legislation doesn’t cover animals that are already in captivity. 

Advertisement

In November 2023, the Lotte Corporation told CNN they were working to release the beluga to sanctuary in Iceland, but there were several setbacks due to “environmental issues within their facility”.

“Accordingly, we are discussing various alternatives, including (other) overseas sanctuaries and domestic ones, with experts from the discharge committee,” they added.

In the meantime, activists are trying to keep the pressure up to ensure the lonely whale is not forgotten about.

“It is time Bella was given the freedom she was promised,” reads the petition for her release. 

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Biden nominee for key China export post expects Huawei to remain blacklisted
  2. New Images From Inside Fukushima Nuclear Plant Are Causing Big Worries
  3. 100-Year Floods May Be Looming If We Don’t Change Our Ways
  4. Disk Called “Dracula’s Chivito” Has The Largest Collection Of Planet-Making Materials Ever Found

Source Link: Free Bella: Activists Urge To Release Captive Beluga From Mega Mall In South Korea

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • “I Wasn’t Prepared For The Sheer Number Of Them”: Cave Of Mummified Never-Before-Seen Eyeless Invertebrates Amazes Scientists
  • Asteroid Day At 10: How The World Is More Prepared Than Ever To Face Celestial Threats
  • What Happened When A New Zealand Man Fell Butt-First Onto A Powerful Air Hose
  • Ancient DNA Confirms Women’s Unexpected Status In One Of The Oldest Known Neolithic Settlements
  • Earth’s Weather Satellites Catch Cloud Changes… On Venus
  • Scientists Find Common Factors In People Who Have “Out-Of-Body” Experiences
  • Shocking Photos Reveal Extent Of Overfishing’s Impact On “Shrinking” Cod
  • Direct Fusion Drive Could Take Us To Sedna During Its Closest Approach In 11,000 Years
  • Earth’s Energy Imbalance Is More Than Double What It Should Be – And We Don’t Know Why
  • We May Have Misjudged A Fundamental Fact About The Cambrian Explosion
  • The Shoebill Is A Bird So Bizarre That Some People Don’t Even Believe It’s Real
  • Colossal’s “Dire Wolves” Are Now 6 Months Old – And They’ve Doubled In Size
  • How To Fake A Fossil: Find Out More In Issue 36 Of CURIOUS – Out Now
  • Is It True Earth Used To Take 420 Days To Orbit The Sun?
  • One Of The Ocean’s “Most Valuable Habitats” Grows The Only Flowers Known To Bloom In Seawater
  • World’s Largest Digital Camera Snaps 2,104 New Asteroids In 10 Hours, Mice With 2 Dads Father Their Own Offspring, And Much More This Week
  • Simplest Explanation For “Anomalous” Signals Coming From Underneath Antarctica Ruled Out
  • “Lizard Shampoo” And Pagan Texts Suggest “Dark Age” Medicine Wasn’t So Dark After All
  • Japanese Macaques May Mourn Their Dead – As Long As They’re Not Maggot-Infested
  • This Is What You’d Hear If You Listened To Voyager’s Golden Record NASA Sent To Interstellar Space
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version