Two 12-year-old beluga whales that spent years in captivity entertaining humans at an aquarium in Shanghai, China, have been rescued and put into an open water sanctuary in Iceland.
The four-meter-long whales, which weigh about 900kg each, were flown 6,000 miles for over 30 hours in a 747 aircraft provided with purpose-built containers from Changfeng Ocean World, an aquarium, to a sanctuary in a bay on Iceland’s Heimaey Island.
The whales, both females and earlier known as Little Grey and Little White, will experience open water for the first time since they left a Russian whale research center in 2011.
Conservationists expect the sanctuary will be a guide for rehoming 3,000 whales and dolphins currently housed in traditional captive facilities or performing in shows.
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