September 28, 2015 — ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia Aquarium has lost a legal battle to import 18 beluga whales from Russia, a federal judge ruled Monday.

The aquarium sued the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in September 2013 after the federal agency refused to grant a permit to import the whales. U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg said in a 100-page ruling that the agency properly reviewed the aquarium’s permit application through the lens of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The 1972 law prohibits the capture of marine mammals in U.S. waters and by U.S. citizens elsewhere and generally doesn’t allow the import of marine mammals, although there are some exceptions, including one that allows animals to be imported for public display.

Aquarium officials were reviewing the decision, spokeswoman Jessica Fontana said in an email.

The government agency, known as NOAA Fisheries, is pleased with the ruling, spokeswoman Connie Barclay said in an email.

The aquarium, which has said the whales are needed to strengthen the gene pool of whales in captivity in the U.S. and for research, argued the agency’s denial of its permit application was arbitrary and capricious.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The New York Times