Two beluga whales have been moved into their new home in Iceland, where they will be able to live freely in the open sea for the first time in nearly a decade.

Little Grey and Little White travelled 6,000 miles from Chengfeng Ocean World, where they were trained to perform in front of audiences. They flew for around 30 hours to the Beluga Sanctuary, run by British charity Sea Life Trust, on Heimaey Island in June this year.

According to the charity, the two 12-year-old female whales arrived safely at Klettsvik Bay, where they will stay in a bayside care pool for a short period of time to acclimatise before being released into the wider sanctuary.

Klettsvik Bay, in the Westman Islands off the south coast of Iceland, is the world’s first open water sanctuary for belugas. Once Little Grey and Little White are released, it will mark the first time they have been in the sea since they were taken from a Russian whale research centre in 2011.

Andy Bool, head of Sea Life Trust, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be able to share the news that Little Grey and Little White are safely in their sea sanctuary care pools and are just one step away from being released into their wider open water home.

“Following extensive planning and rehearsals, the first stage of their release back to the ocean was as smooth as we had hoped and planned for.


“We are carefully monitoring Little Grey and Little White with our expert care team and veterinarians, and hope to announce their final release very soon.”

Beluga whales, also known as sea canaries for their high-pitched calls, are not considered endangered but are threatened by hunting, commercial whaling and climate change.
Source

Two beluga whales - Little Grey and Little White - that had not been in the sea for almost 10 years have been moved to an open water sanctuaryhttps://t.co/SbfhSk9s13 pic.twitter.com/CiT5m1kLZh

— ITV News (@itvnews) August 10, 2020

Unexpectedly a beluga whale shows up and swims near to the kayak out of curiosity of the people in it. Suddenly he begins to push the kayak, possibly with the intention of having some fun and playing with them.

Belugas are found in arctic and subarctic waters along the northern coasts of Canada, Alaska, Russia, Norway and Greenland. It is roughly estimated that between 72,000 and 144,000 belugas live in Canadian waters1.

These animals are distributed in the western Arctic (Beaufort Sea), high Arctic (Lancaster Sound, Baffin Bay), eastern Arctic (Cumberland Sound and southeast Baffin, Hudson Bay, James Bay and Ungava Bay) and in the St. Lawrence Estuary.

The distance between their summer and winter habitats requires that some beluga populations migrate over long distances during the spring and autumn.

Back in August, we here at Animal Tracks were cheered to announce the birth of a bouncing baby beluga whale at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. At the time, no one knew the gender of the baby; he or she was being allowed to bond with mom without any physical interaction with human handlers.

 The time finally arrived for the whopping infant to receive a physical examination, and on Tuesday aquarium officials issued a happy announcement: It’s a girl!

The female beluga calf will make her public debut with her mother, Mauyak (pronounced “MAH-yak”), at 11 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 26. Aquarium guests should have plenty to see: The 5-foot-long calf already weighs more than 205 pounds and has been gaining 12 to 15 pounds a week.

*The baby beluga arrived on the scene at about 2 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 27.

*The calf is 4 1/2 feet long and weighs about 150 pounds.

*The new baby is the sixth beluga calf born at Shedd.


*The newborn has two older siblings also born to Mauyak: Qannik and Miki.

*Mom Mauyak’s name means “soft snow” in Inuit. She weighs about 1,200 pounds and is about 11 feet long.

*The newborn’s dad is named Naluark (nah-LOO-ark), and he weighs 2,100 pounds.
 Source

Only about 150,000 beluga whales survive in the wild, where they’re considered “near threatened.” They’ve yet to fully recover from whaling, and may still suffer from climate change and Arctic development. Yet recently, in the U.S, the Georgia Aquarium has made plans to import 18 beluga whales captured off the coast of Russia that are being kept in a holding pen. They are currently being held in the Black Sea.

If the U.S. government approves the plan, it will mark the first time in nearly two decades that wild-caught cetaceans have been imported into an aquarium in the United States. If the permit is approved, the aquarium will transport these wild-caught whales 6,000 miles, first to Belgium and then across the Atlantic, causing the animals tremendous stress.

This would mean that the whales, who are highly sensitive to noise and handling, would be forced to endure the roaring engines of cargo planes for hours on end. On top of that, the 1- to 1.5-ton animals would be transferred from one container to another -- and then one plane to another -- during their grueling journey’s layover in Belgium. It’s too much for these aquatic mammals, and it will be extremely stressful.

Controversy is continuing to brew over the Georgia Aquarium’s plan to import 18 beluga whales captured off the coast of Russia. Critics say the lifespan of aquarium animals is a key test of well-being: If captivity isn’t harmful, then they should live as long or even longer than in the wild, as do confinement-friendly fish and small mammals. The numbers on cetaceans are not encouraging. On average, orcas and possibly bottlenose dolphins have shorter lives in captivity than in the wild.

Courtney Vail of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, raises the question: "Why don’t captive belugas, which are unthreatened by predation, pollution and hunting, and receive round-the-clock attention, live longer? For all the arguments about veterinary care and restaurant-quality fish, they’re not living any longer. After over 50 years of keeping belugas in captivity, we still don’t have a self-sustaining population.” According to Vail the short lives are a symptom of beluga unhappiness in captivity.

The National Marine Fisheries Service will will hold a public meeting on the beluga proposal on Friday, Oct. 12 in Silver Spring Maryland. Public comment will also be accepted online until Oct. 29. Please take a minute to leave a comment and also to sign the petitions against bringing the 18 beluga whales to the Georgia aquarium.


NO Permit for 18 Beluga Whales in Captivity

This is the moment little Veronic Antov thought she was going to be a whale's dinner.

The three-year-old looked like she was going to be gobbled up by a white beluga whale after pressing her nose up against the glass at an aquarium.

But they soon became firm friends - and the huge whale even gave her a 'kiss' from behind the glass screen.

The incredible interaction between the 11ft whale and Veronica was captured by the three-year-old's father Andrey Antov.

Veronica discovered the whale, named Juno, while on a visit to the Mystic Aquarium with her parents.

It was just before closing time when the pair met and an instant bond was established.

While Veronica ran along the stretch of the tank's window the whale happily shadowed her and nodded his head enthusiastically.


The 90 stone mammal also swam in circles and even 'kissed' Veronica by opening his mouth and putting it up to the window.

With her hands pressed firmly against the glass, Veronica stared in awe as the curious whale played with her for half an hour.

After witnessing the magical scenes, Andrey and his wife Magda bought a year's membership so they could come and visit again.


The aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut, US, is an hour and a half drive from the Antov's hometown of Oxford, Connecticut.

Andrey, 36, said: 'My wife and I thought it would be good to do 'educational' trips every weekend for our children.

'So we started taking Veronica and our one year old son Oliver to circuses, fairs, aquariums and zoos for example.


We decided to visit Mystic Aquarium one time and this was where Veronica met Juno.

'The interaction between the two was incredible and my wife and I were amazed at what we were seeing.

'It was really special for Veronica and she was understandably in awe of the huge whale.

'She decided to name him Alex for some reason, she is always coming up with funny names for animals.

'We send the photos to our families and all of them were very excited to see them and hear about it.


'Whenever we talk we always chat about the encounter between Veronica and the whale.'

Juno, who is identified by the grey circles around his eyes, arrived at the aquarium from the famous water park SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, US.

He is one of four beluga whales at Mystic Aquarium.

The nature photographer added: 'My wife and I have always wanted the kids to be close to nature and learn about different creatures, small and large.


'But I've certainly never seen an interaction like this in my life before - apart from in films like Free Willy.

'My little son Oliver was not so keen on Juno though, he was so afraid of him he ran away.'

Veronica added: 'I liked it when the whale was giving me kisses and playing with me, he was a bit silly though.'
Source

The beluga whale is an intelligent, gentle and very social whale. It has been listed by the International Union for Conservation (IUCN) as " nearly endangered" on their Red List of Threatened Species since 2008. At this time there are around 100 beluga whales that are in crisis and trapped in northeastern Russia near the Bering Sea in the Sinyavinsky Straight. Very large pieces of thick sea ice have confined these whales and have forced them to rely on several smaller holes in the ice to get air to breathe. They are trapped by a “wide belt of 10- to 15- centimeter- thick ice” (33 feet to 50 feet). This is sadly a relatively common phenomenon for them to get trapped by icebergs in the Bering Sea.

The difference this time is that some of the local fisherman had noticed the trapped beluga whales. They had contacted Russia’s Transport Minister and Emergencies Minister asking them to send an icebreaker as soon as possible. They had stressed that it was extremely critical because advancing ice and extreme frigid waters are decreasing the the amount of space that the whales have to swim in. It is extremely dangerous for those whales from the declining temperatures, the lack of food, and also from potential predators like polar bears and killer whales.

The Russians have responded by launching a rescue effort. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is a huge fan of beluga whales and heads Russia’s program to protect them. A rescue tug called the Ruby that was in the area helping a stranded Korean cargo ship was dispatched to the area. Unfortunately it is being hampered by a high winds and heavy swell and cannot break through the ice until the weather gets better. An emergency ice breaker is desperately needed to help pave a way for these whales to get out to the open sea. All of this takes time where there is little time left for these whales. Please take a minute to sign the petition below to ask that the U.S. join in this rescue operation to help free these beautiful whales from their potential icy grave.


Rescue the 100 Belugas Trapped Under Ice Near the Bering Sea