Little Grey and Little White, the two inaugural residents of the world’s first open-water whale sanctuary, have just made their maiden swim in their new home waters.

The pair of belugas was released for the first time to experience the natural ecosystem of Klettsvik Bay, Heimaey, one of the Westman Islands off the south coast of Iceland.

Since arriving at the sanctuary in August, the whales have been feeding and acclimatizing to the environment under the watchful eye of the Sea Life team.

“We are introducing them gradually to the bay in little steps,” says Andy Bool, Head of Sea Life Trust, in a press release. “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.”

The full sanctuary stretches about 350,000 square feet and reaches depths of 36 feet, so the whales will have much more room to explore once they’ve fully adapted. In the interim, they’ll return to their sea sanctuary care pools for monitoring after each swim in the bay.

“We’re absolutely thrilled by the progress that Little Grey and Little White have made since moving to their bayside care pools,” Bool says.

When they were babies, the now-12-year-old female belugas were captured in Russian waters and brought to Shanghai’s Changfeng Ocean World to perform in marine mammal shows. Sea Life Trust had been planning their journey to Iceland for seven years before finally migrating the whales in June 2019.

To get to the sanctuary, Little Grey and Little White endured a 6,000-mile journey from China to Iceland. They were transported by truck from Changfeng Ocean World to an airport in Shanghai, flew by plane to Keflavik, were placed in another truck to be brought to a ferry terminal, and rode a ferry to their final destination on Heimaey Island.

For their first year in Iceland, the whales resided at a land-based facility where they slowly adjusted to Iceland’s frigid waters under veterinary care. They’re now in a bayside care pool that allows for further monitoring while they get used to the ocean once again.

“We have a great opportunity to learn how these belugas, which have lived in a captive environment for most of their lives, how they adapt to a more natural habitat,” general manager of the sanctuary, Audrey Padgett, tells the Associated Press. “Then we can share that information to improve the welfare of more than 300 belugas that are in captivity around the world.”

Source: Sport Diver