Her plight is urgent, with campaigners racing to rescue her from the bare tank in a glitzy shopping centre before it is too late.
Referring to the Lotte Group, which owns the aquarium where she lives, Jo Yak-gol, of the marine environmentalist group Hot Pink Dolphins, said: "Almost five years have passed since they said they would release her." An international petition has been launched to demand her release.
Bella's story started in 2013, when she was captured in the Arctic Ocean off the coast of Russia at the age of two. Along with two male belugas, Bello and Belli, she was sold to the aquarium, housed in a mega-mall beneath the 555-metre-high Lotte World Tower, which is owned by one of South Korea's largest conglomerates.
Tragedy struck in 2016 when Bello died prematurely at the age of five (average lifespan in the wild is 35 to 50 years), followed by the death of 12-year-old Belli in 2019.
A public outcry ensued that led to Lotte pledging to release Bella soon after the second death, and again in 2021. But such efforts have repeatedly stalled.
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