Little Grey & Little White (Beluga whales) update (3) (Iceland) BBC News - 21st April 2022

[@budgetinghowtostayafloatin8272]

Wonderful to see that a lot of real thought, time and effort is being put into their rehabilitation. Can only hope for the chain reaction to release other captive whales follows. So happy for these little guys n a big thank you to all working to get them home xx

[@NourKLI]

Lolita follows soon. She will be placed in a sea pen near her family!

[@suisenshirasaki8298]

Please bring Hvaldimir here too 😭

[@vitaredit6781]

This is a so Wonderful Project to release Little White and Little grey into the Icelandic Sanctuary in the Westman Islands. We do hope that all others Belugas still prisoners in the various aquariums all over the World will soon join Little Grey and Little White in this totally adapted to their needs, magnificent and great Sanctuary in Island.

[@lennyhardi3760]

Agree with you. Not only for beluga, I hope all the animal the kept in the circus and aquarium all can gain the freedom. It really break my heart to think about that.

[@JanMorsø]

A pity open sea is too much. Delightful beasties close up, tho. Well cared for.

[@caesarsalad-xu4vy]

They decided they couldn't be released into the wild after spending over a decade in captivity. A sanctuary was the best thing for them. Here's to hoping more will follow.

[@SARAI7HJ]

Had to look this up to see the end result. Too sleepy to finish watching the beginning on PBS tonight.

[@Lalalalala...]

Watching what?

[@lovetotrav]

Keiko the killer whale was captive for 19 years before they flew him to Iceland in an outdoor pen that was larger than a football stadium. He absolutely LOVED the weather of Iceland. He would breach up and capture the storm water wave spray in his mouth & was delighted to play during these storms. I'm really looking forward to seeing these guys get out into the OUTDOOR pen and they will be just as delighted as Keiko to be in the outdoors. Their time for a "controlled" environment (as she puts it) needs to be over. 🙏

[@num1pyrogurl]

Did...did you not watch the video? they've been OUTSIDE, OUTDOORS in their seapen, theres videos of it. Little White hasn't been adapting as quickly as Grey has (if you watched the video you'd know this), just like humans they each have different personalities and learn at their own pace is all, with this extra help from the team and with Grey leading her friend, they are hopeful that eventually she'll grow out of her shell and become more confident in herself and enjoy the bay Keiko LOVED the weather changes and experiencing the tide, but shouldn't have been forced out of it and let go, sure he sawm all the way to Norway by himself but he wanted human company, he never adapted into a pod and lived away from humans, he came back to humans and then got pneumonia and passed away. they don't want that to happen again, they want to make sure they are 100% capable of fending for themselves and not retreat back to humans.

[@Lalalalala...]

@@num1pyrogurlsome also might never be released. The sanctuary also offers a more natural environment with the care of humans for those who will never be suited for release. I never heard about keiko before this week, but ever since I heard of him I have been so fascinated by the long and complicated process of bringing him back to the ocean. Although he didn’t get a fully storybook ending, and I’m sure maybe some things weren’t done perfectly, but it was the first time and a learning process. I think being able to swim and explore and feel the ocean again must have been a better last few years. He probably would have died much sooner of left in Mexico

[@num1pyrogurl]

@@Lalalalala... you're a ***** who obviously didnt read my comment

[@Lalalalala...]

@@num1pyrogurl are you okay? Your response to my comment was pretty extreme considering what I said. I don’t think I said anything bad. I’m not sure what warranted the response “you’re a ***who obviously didnt read my comment” I’m not sure why you feel the need to resort to censored name calling. I wasn’t even disagreeing with you on most things. I was mostly just saying the process to bring this animals to the ocean or even just moving them is fascinating. In fact I was mostly agreeing with you. The first part was commenting on the whale sanctuary itself and also to the original post. The whale sanctuary offers a place for them to go and have better living conditions. They said they can have 8 more belugas. I was just saying that they might not be released fully like Keiko was. They might just be released into the protected bay. Some will never be able to be released fully. I’m not sure how anything I said in those comments makes me “a ***” whatever that means. Either way, happy to see these whales doing well and not having to perform anymore

[@n0odles86]

Let's leave it to the professionals, eh? You have no idea what is happening as you're not there. They spent a decade under human care, expecting them to go straight back after a few years is silly.

[@roblockhart8410]

These whale were still in the pen 🤦‍♂️ What a disaster. Who’s fining this thing? I can’t even imagine how much it has cost over the last few years. Anyways I’m glad these guys are at least not performing for anyone other than the staff in charge of storing them