Apparently it costs 2 million per month to keep the belugas alive. Not sure I would want the government to be covering that cost. The issue is more complex than the headline but at the end of the day the corporation did not manage their money and now are in urgent need however, they also wanted to sell the animals to a group in China and the Feds blocked the sale. These animals were born in captivity so it’s hard to say if they would survive if released. It’s not a great situation.