The Sea Life Trust Beluga Whale Sanctuary was created in 2018 with the aim of providing beluga whales with a safe and more natural home, advancing knowledge through research and education, and supporting protection of wild belugas.
Marine wildlife charities Whale and Dolphin Conservation and the SEA LIFE TRUST (both UK) have collaborated to turn Klettsvik Bay at Heimaey Island, off south-west Iceland, into the world’s first open-water reserve exclusively for the beluga whale.
The natural inlet in which the Sea Life Trust Beluga Whale Sanctuary is based covers a total area of 32,000 square meters and is around 9.1 meters at its deepest point.
The sanctuary’s first residents, Little White and Little Grey, travelled 6,000 miles from their previous home in a Shanghai aquarium via air, land and sea to the Sanctuary, located in a large, natural bay in the Westman Islands, just off the south coast of Iceland.
The Sanctuary also includes a Puffin Rescue Centre and local species aquarium in the Visitor Centre. The Puffin Rescue Centre provides support for community puffling rescue and release, as well as long-term care for non-releasable, rescued puffins and pufflings. The Visitor Centre is open seasonally and all admission revenue goes directly to providing for the animals in care.
According to belugasanctuary
