"At this point, they still refuse to eat, only swim and trying to recover. One of the dolphins has serious lacerations of the skin. Fortunately, their injuries are not life-threatening and an operation won't be necessary," Mr. Kostov stated.
He also mentioned that the dolphins would need at least ten days to recuperate and gain strength.
"After that, if everything goes well, they will start practicing. Their performances in the near future are out of the question, though," he added.
He invoked the fact that two dolphins - Larik and Polina - were transported by a truck back to St. Petersburg after a nine-month performance tour in Shanghai. The truck carrying an aquarium with dolphins was involved in a road accident on the Moscow-St. Petersburg highway in the Novgorod region.
The truck had a head-on collision with an incoming vehicle and turned over. The dolphins were thrown on the road pavement. Rescue workers had to constantly spread water over their bodies for several hours.
In the evening, the dolphins were loaded with the help of special equipment into a water-filled cistern and transported to the St. Petersburg's dolphinarium.
