2 beluga whales rescued from Chinese aquarium find new home in sea sanctuary 6,000 miles away
Two beluga whales that have been in the captivity at a Chinese aquarium for the better part of the last decade will soon be free, thanks to a Herculean effort by animal rights activists who managed to arrange for their transport across half the world amidst a global pandemic.
Little Grey and Little White were captured at a very young age off the coast of Russia at the beginning of the decade before they were moved to the Changfeng Ocean World aquarium in Shanghai in 2011. Luckily for them, the following year, the aquarium was bought by Merlin Entertainments, a company that is against keeping whales and dolphins in captivity.
And so the planning began to take them back home to the sea and it was decided that they will be moved to an eight-acre sanctuary at Klettsvik Bay in Iceland that is run by the Sea Life Trust Charity and which is over 6,000 miles away. It would take several years, but those plans have now almost come to fruition, with its impending completion amidst the economic and logistical constraints enforced by Covid-19 a testament to the dedication of those involved.
It wasn't easy by any means. Both Little Grey and Little White weigh more than a ton and consume around 110 pounds of fish per day between them. They needed specially-designed equipment, veterinarians, and large amounts of water and ice to keep them cool and hydrated. They also had bespoke "stretchers" or slings to move them overland, and the team had to complete "practice runs" to get them used to the idea of being moved via trucks, tugboats, and cranes.
"It's been quite the journey for these two. It hasn't been easy, but it's definitely been a labor of love," Audrey Padgett, the Beluga Whale Sanctuary's general manager, told CNN. "If you're trying to take your cat or your dog somewhere, you want them to have a positive association with travel ... We had to make the belugas a comfortable as possible."
She said the whales' new home is a "larger, natural environment" but that they're not quite there yet. Instead, following their arrival in Iceland, they were kept in a care facility with a quarantine pool for several months so they would get adjusted to the colder environment.
The final journey from the care facility to the sanctuary is short but has been complicated by the coronavirus, Padgett said. "We're already in a pretty remote location here in Iceland. It affected our ability to get experts here to help us with the move. It affected our ability to get supplies and just the length of time it took to do things," she shared. "We also needed to protect our staff and put them into quarantine, because we need our people to take care of our animals."
Currently, the pair is in an "acclimatization space" in the sanctuary and are being assessed around the clock as they get used to being back in an ocean environment that offers them more space to explore, and new kinds of seaweed, kelp, and fish to enjoy.
However, there is still more work to be done. Besides Little White and Little Grey, who are now free, there are more than 300 belugas in captivity around the world. "Some belugas are in cramped and unsuitable conditions," Padgett said. "And if what we can learn here from Little White and Little Grey can help improve welfare for other animals... that's really the point."