Whales held in ‘jail’

More than 100 whales are being held in cramped enclosures off the Pacific coast of Russia amid claims that local businesses make millions by selling them illegally to Chinese theme parks. Environmental activists say that the 11 orcas and 90 beluga whales are kept in tiny spaces at the ‘‘whale prison’’ in a bay near Nakhodka, a city in the Far East region. Some of the animals have been in the enclosures, which are owned by four companies, since July. A video shared on YouTube on Tuesday showed a whale being lifted by crane into a container before, activists said, it was taken to China. The animals are reportedly fetching millions from oceanariums, depending upon age and size. Russian conservation officials said they were investigating claims that the whales had been caught illegally.