27.08.2010. - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has taken part in a wildlife experiment, helping biologists get skin samples from an endangered gray whale. Putin, who is currently visiting the Far Eastern region of Kamchatka, joined the team of marine biologists at the Kronotsky Nature Preserve, where the nearly-extinct mammals have recently been observed. Despite the poor weather conditions and the rough water, a motor boat carrying the wetsuit-clad team went to sea in search of gray whales. After a group of whales was detected, the Prime Minister shot a sample-taking dart at one of the animals with a crossbow. "We tried to work with three or four whales, but we only got one," Putin told the press after setting foot on the shore. "I had a rush: three times I missed, but the fourth time I hit it."
