A Russian company captured seven orca whales last summer, and two of them are being displayed in the Sochi Dolphinarium at the Winter Olympics next month.
In light of recent controversy over marine captivity, it's already sparked immediate outrage.
Orcas, recently captured, will perform in #Sochi. Greed just killed the #Olympic spirit. http://t.co/BPkmZFyxpd #Blackfish #orca
#Boycott the #Olympics in #Sochi CAPTIVE KILLER WHALES ARE NOT ENTERTAINMENT! http://t.co/n1kpiWDay2 #BlackFish
Disgusted. #blackfish #captivity Killer whales snared by hunters to be displayed @ Russia's Sochi #WinterOlympics http://t.co/IgRJZeO4gJ.
Environmental groups and whale researchers are putting pressure on the International Olympic Committee to ask captors to release these whales back into the wild.
An online petition targeting the Russian federal government has already garnered over 93,000 signatures.
UPDATE: International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams told BuzzFeed via email at the beginning of December that a request for comment was the first time the IOC had heard anything about the use of orcas in Sochi. He also said that the Olympic Organizing Committee in Sochi has "no plans to use Orca whales at the Games."
CORRECTION: The orcas will be on display at the Sochi Dolphinarium, not at the Olympics themselves. An earlier version of this story stated otherwise. (1/16/14)
H/t CBC.ca