The Sea Life Trust Beluga Sanctuary: Development, Challenges, and Current Reality
When the Sea Life Trust, supported by Merlin Entertainments, announced plans to create the world’s first open-water beluga sanctuary in Iceland, the project gained considerable public attention. It was framed as a progressive step toward more ethical treatment of cetaceans in human care. Two female belugas—Little White and Little Grey—were chosen as the first residents, with the promise of a more natural environment in which they could explore a sheltered bay after years of living in an indoor Chinese aquarium.
The idea was ambitious. However, nearly six years after the belugas arrived in Iceland, the sanctuary’s practical limitations have become clear. While the project has been successful in transporting the animals to an indoor facility on the island, the core vision—full-time residency in an open-water sea pen—has not been realised. Understanding why requires looking at the project’s history, the belugas’ background, the Icelandic environment, and the operational realities that emerged.
Origins and Transfer to Iceland
Little White and Little Grey were originally captured from Russian waters when young and spent most of their lives in the controlled environment of Changfeng Ocean World in Shanghai. When Merlin Entertainments acquired the aquarium, the company publicly committed to ending cetacean display and pledged to create a sanctuary. The chosen location was Klettsvík Bay in the Westman Islands, a site previously used during the rehabilitation programme for Keiko, the orca made famous by Free Willy.
The belugas were moved to Iceland in June 2019, in what was widely described as a highly complex but well-managed transport operation. Upon arrival, they entered specially designed landside care pools where they were expected to undergo a short period of adjustment before being introduced to the bay.
This period turned out to be far longer than originally projected.
Initial Delays and First Entry into the Bay
From 2019 through much of 2020, the belugas remained in the on-land pools. The sanctuary team reported the need for slow acclimatisation: the whales lacked the stamina required for open water, struggled with colder temperatures, and needed extensive preparatory training.
In August 2020, the pair were introduced to the sea pen in Klettsvík Bay for the first time. The move was celebrated as a milestone, and the whales did spend short periods in the bay. However, they were returned to the care pools soon afterwards. Observations at the time indicated that both animals experienced reduced appetite, decreased energy, and difficulty adjusting to the colder, more variable sea conditions. These were not emergency situations, but they were concerning enough to halt further extended bay use.
Environmental Challenges in Klettsvík Bay
One of the most significant issues - and a factor that many marine mammal professionals flagged early on - is the suitability of Klettsvík Bay as a long-term habitat. The bay is visually striking and remote, but it is also known for:
- cold, fluctuating water temperatures;
- heavy surge and strong tidal movement;
- sudden weather changes;
- harsh winter storms;
- seasonal conditions that make the bay; inaccessible for part of the year.
These challenges were not unknown. During the Keiko project, researchers and husbandry staff repeatedly reported that the bay was difficult to manage, particularly in winter. Nets required reinforcement, equipment was frequently damaged, and the conditions made consistent care difficult. Those issues were widely documented at the time (Simmons, 2014)
Keiko: From Captivity to the Wild
Given that history, it was foreseeable that two belugas with decades of indoor aquarium living might struggle in the same location.
Seasonal Limitations and the Need for Winter Housing
A fundamental practical challenge is that the sanctuary can only use the bay in the summer months. Winter conditions are far too severe, and infrastructure in the bay must be removed or reinforced annually. This means the whales must be housed in the indoor or semi-indoor care pools for much of the year.
From a welfare perspective, this creates a structural contradiction. A sanctuary is intended to be a permanent home, not a seasonal feature. Moving whales between radically different environments - indoor pools to cold, surging seawater - introduces stress and prevents them developing full acclimatisation or physical conditioning. It also means the whales will always be dependent on human-managed environments for most of the year.
This seasonal model was implicit in the geography of Iceland, but it was not prominent in early public messaging. For many professionals within the zoological community, the need to overwinter the whales indoors was a critical red flag.
Health Concerns and Acclimatisation Difficulties
While the belugas have not suffered catastrophic health problems, they have experienced a number of setbacks that are consistent with the challenges of transitioning from a controlled environment to a natural one.
Reported issues have included:
- lethargy during early bay exposure;
- reduced appetite and changes in feeding; behaviour
- challenges maintaining body temperature;
- periods of stress during environmental transitions;
- possible respiratory sensitivity.
It’s important to be fair here: the sanctuary team appears to have acted cautiously and appropriately when these issues arose. The setbacks were handled conservatively and the welfare of the whales was placed ahead of the timetable for using the bay. But the frequency of these setbacks does underline how difficult the environment is for animals coming from a very different background.
Current Status of the Sanctuary
As of the most recent public information, Little White and Little Grey remain in the landside care pools. There have been no recent extended trials in the bay, and no timeline has been offered for future access. The sanctuary continues to frame the project as ongoing, but the reality is that the original vision - belugas living freely in a natural bay- has not materialised.
The whales are appear to be well cared for and retired from exhibition. But the sanctuary functionally operates more as a specialised aquarium facility with occasional potential for bay access, rather than the open-water sanctuary concept originally promoted.
Was the Outcome Predictable?
While the intentions behind the project were undoubtedly sincere, many of the obstacles were foreseeable:
- The bay had a documented history of difficult conditions during the Keiko project.
- The climate limits the sanctuary to seasonal use.
- Long-term captive belugas often have poor fitness for natural conditions.
- Temperature and surge differences between aquarium pools and the North Atlantic are extreme.
- Acclimatisation tends to be slow, and sometimes incomplete, in older or long-term captive cetaceans.
- Moving whales in and out each winter disrupts the very stability a sanctuary aims to provide.
None of this means the project was malicious or ill-intentioned. But it does suggest that the planning may have underestimated the site’s environmental constraints and overestimated the whales’ ability to adapt to a wild or semi-wild setting after decades of indoor living.
A Fair Assessment
A balanced view might be summarised as follows:
Positive aspects:
- Significant logistical achievements were made in transporting the whales safely.
- The animals that seem to adjust it well to their indoor environment in the tourist centre.
Limitations and negative aspects:
- The sea sanctuary bay has seen minimal use.
- Iceland’s climate makes full-time open-water living impossible.
- The belugas’ physical and behavioural backgrounds limit their adaptation.
- The project’s early messaging created expectations that have not been met.
- The location’s unsuitability was knowable in advance, particularly given Keiko’s documented experiences.
Conclusion
The Sea Life Trust Beluga Sanctuary represents an ambitious attempt to create a sea-based retirement facility for long-term captive whales. Its intentions were positive – although some would reasonably question that this was ideologically driven, particularly with the involvement of anti-captive lobbyist groups such as Whale And Dolphin Conservation, who have negligible experience in marine animal husbandry.
Nevertheless, Merlin's husbandry team has clearly prioritised the whales’ welfare. However, the sanctuary’s geographical location, the environmental challenges of Klettsvík Bay, and the belugas’ own histories have combined to limit the success of the original vision.
Currently, Little White and Little Grey are living safe, stable lives, but the idea of them living freely in the bay for extended periods now appears unlikely. For any future sanctuaries, environmental suitability, seasonal accessibility, and the physiological limitations of long-term captive cetaceans will need far more careful consideration.
Timeline of Beluga Sanctuary Transition (2019 – 2024)
2019: Arrival and Initial Acclimatisation
June 2019: The belugas arrived in Iceland from Shanghai and were placed in an indoor quarantine pool for health monitoring.
Late 2019: Care teams began cooling the pool to encourage the development of a protective blubber layer for the cold water.
2020: First Attempt at Bay Introduction
Early 2020: A planned move to the bay was delayed due to the detection of mild bacterial stomach infections.
August 2020: They were successfully moved into the netted sea care pools in Klettsvík Bay.
September-October 2020: They had their first free swims in the wider bay as part of the "Little Steps" programme and adapted to the cold water.
Late 2020: They were moved back indoors for the winter period as part of the safety and welfare plan.
2022: Infrastructure Setback
April 2022: A large, intermediate net structure called the “Halo” habitat was installed to facilitate a more gradual transition to the full bay.
August 2022: A contractor’s boat sank in the bay, causing oil/fuel contamination and forcing the repair/dismantling of structures, which delayed their return to the bay.
2023: Health Issues and Reversal
April 2023: The belugas returned to the sea care pools for the next phase of transition.
June 2023: Little Grey developed stomach ulcers, leading to both whales being transferred back to the indoor pool for intensive veterinary care.
Late 2023: Little Grey's ulcers were reported to be fully healed.
2024: Ongoing Delays
Mid-2024: The sanctuary announced further structural work was needed on the bay infrastructure (for veterinary access and weather resilience), postponing the expected seasonal return until at least 2026.
References
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