March 16, 2021

Draining the Tanks


Draining the Tanks
At St. Petersburg's pool – ahem, dolphinarium – visitors can get a picture with a beluga or dolphin for only 300-500 rubles ($4-$7). Amanda Shirnina

The marine mammal display industry has been booming in post-Soviet Russia, catching up to the American model just in time for the U.S. to drop it. But the State Duma is now expected to put an end to the practice.

A recent article entitled "Don't Catch Willy" — a reference to the 1993 film Free Willy — reports that the Duma is considering a bill to ban the wild capture of whales, dolphins, and seals. The bill is expected to pass and would also impact Moskvarium.

Svetlana Bessarab, Duma deputy, writes that some of the hunting scenarios are "absurd: the dolphinarium orders the poacher to catch the animal, state authorities seize the animal, and then they transfer the animal to the dolphinarium that had ordered it, for safekeeping."

It is already the case that marine mammals cannot be hunted in Russia for other than scientific purposes. But it is obviously easy for dolphinaria and oceanaria to sport an educational mission statement while operating primarily for entertainment and profit. Each animal caught in the ocean sells for about $2 million, making it a lucrative business.

Russia remains one of the most prolific collectors of marine mammals in the world. If the bill passes, it will also cut off another market: China buys about 100 marine mammals per year from Russian hunters for entertainment purposes.

The report argues that some animals live in simple "cisterns." Mobile dolphinaria, which were popular before the pandemic, are especially damaging to marine mammals and have already been banned in 17 countries.

As at SeaWorld, this legislation would allow animals already enclosed to stay in place until death but not be replaced, thus eventually leading to the eventual closure of dolphinaria and other marine mammal display facilities.

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Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

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Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.

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Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

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Driving Down Russia's Spine

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Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

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Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
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The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

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