Two rehabilitated beluga whales take first open water swim

Ellena Cruse28 September 2020

Two rehabilitated beluga whales have taken their first swim in an Icelandic open water sanctuary, the charity Sea Life Trust has said.

The pair, named Little Grey and Little White, were able to explore the wider natural surroundings of Klettsvik Bay on Heimaey, one of the Westman Islands off the south coast of Iceland.

The bay is approximately 32,000 square metres – which is equivalent to the size of 17 tennis courts – with a depth of up to 10 metres.

The Trust said the whales had made good progress since moving to bayside care pools in August, and the swim is the part of a carefully managed programme to ease them into the wider sanctuary.

The Sea Life Trust team moving Little Grey from a tugboat during transfer to a bayside care pool
PA

They will return to the sanctuary care pools over a short period of time and their health and well-being will be assessed on a daily basis.

Andy Bool, head of Sea Life Trust, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled by the progress that Little Grey and Little White have made since moving to their bayside care pools.

Beluga Whales Little Grey and Little White swimming in the bayside care pool
PA

“They are feeding and acclimatising well to the more natural surroundings as well as all of the outdoor elements.

“We are introducing them gradually to the bay in little steps, but seeing them swim together and deep dive amongst the flora and fauna of the wider bay for the first time was amazing to witness and gave us a real sense that Little Grey and Little White are enjoying being back in the sea.”

Beluga Whale Little Grey during transfer
PA

The Beluga Whale Sanctuary, operated by the charity, was created in partnership with Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) and is one of the biggest developments in captive whale and dolphin care and protection in decades.

Cathy Williamson, WDC’s End Captivity programme lead, said: “We’re delighted that Little Grey and Little White are now exploring the wider bay and adapting well to their new, natural, stimulating environment.

The whales taking their first swim in an Icelandic open water sanctuary
PA

“We hope this will mean that many of the more than 3,500 whales and dolphins held in captivity for shows and swim with attractions can be brought to sanctuaries to live more natural lives or be rehabilitated for a return to the wild.”

Little Grey and Little White’s journey back to the ocean will be told as part of a new two-part documentary which will be shown on ITV this October.

The programme will show the complexities and dedication around the world-first project and will feature comedian and animal lover John Bishop.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in