Sea Life Trust Beluga Whale Sanctuary / Sæheimar Aquarium

"This place is different from all others because it is not a tour on the open ocean. It is a Beluga Whale Sanctuary. You might have already heard of SeaWorld and how terribly the animals are treated but hold on, this place is totally different. It is a sanctuary for Belugas who were raised in those shady water parks. Caught at an early age and raised in captivity, those social animals unfortunately have little skills to survive in the wild. You can read the story of Keiko the orca to see how reintroduction to wild of such animals might not be the best idea. So then comes the sanctuary, which has a massive patch of Icelandic water, 32,000m², as an enclosure. In there, the belugas can explore their new freedom and try to learn what it is to be a whale but also can stay in the safety of human care they, unfortunately, became reliant on. In addition to Belugas the sanctuary also offers a puffin rescue centre to help those birds in need and release them afterwards. "

"Sea Life Trust is the charitable partner of Merlin Entertainment, a UK-based company known for its entertainment attractions, including Madam Tussaud’s wax museums, Legoland parks, and other theme parks around the world. Captive whales were not part of the company’s idea of entertainment. In 2012, Merlin acquired Changfend Ocean World in Shanghai, where Little White and Little Grey were being held, and they vowed to end the whale show. Through partnerships with Sea Life Trust, and another charitable group, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, the plan was quickly hatched “to find an alternative solution for Little White and Little Grey, which would move them out of that, into a more natural environment.” The task was not a quick nor easy one, though. Little White and Little Grey had been held in captivity for so many years that they could not be simply set free. Instead, the search was on for an ideal location to build the world’s first open-sea whale sanctuary. "