Two beluga whales that featured in a widely watched ITV documentary fronted by comedian John Bishop remain largely confined to an indoor care pool in Iceland six years after their transfer from a Chinese aquarium, their supporters and critics say.
Little Grey and Little White were transported roughly 6,000 miles from Changfeng Ocean World in Shanghai to a purpose-built site at Klettsvik Bay on Iceland’s south coast in 2019. The Sea Life Trust, the UK charity that runs the Beluga Whale Sanctuary and is backed by leisure firm Merlin Entertainments, presented the project as the world’s first open‑water sanctuary for belugas and documented the operation in the two‑part programme John Bishop’s Great Whale Rescue, broadcast in 2020.
The sanctuary’s outer pen covers almost 32,000 square metres and reaches depths of up to 10 metres, but the two whales have spent the bulk of their time since arrival in an indoor landside care facility, the charity’s annual updates show. Sea Life Trust figures cited by campaigners and media reports say the pair have spent just 71 days in the bay since their initial sea swims in 2020 and were returned to an indoor quarantine pool in November of that year. The quarantine pool is reported to measure about 15 metres by 20 metres and has no access to outside light.
Supporters were told the project would allow the animals to live away from performance shows they had been part of in Shanghai. Merlin Entertainments bought Changfeng Ocean World in 2012 and made a donation to the Sea Life Trust to fund the belugas’ relocation. The rescue involved overland transport, a Boeing 747 cargo flight and a tugboat transfer into Klettsvik Bay; the trust said specially designed slings and cushioning were used to protect the 40‑foot, roughly one‑ton animals during the complex journey.
Campaigners and some former supporters have criticised the amount of time the whales have spent inside and questioned the sanctuary model. Brian Monteith, an adviser to campaign group PETA Watch and a former MEP, said the project had “ended up becoming John Bishop’s Great Whale Scandal,” adding that those who hoped sanctuaries would free animals from captive show conditions would be “upset by the substandard conditions in which these belugas are living.”
Sea Life Trust and Merlin Entertainments defended the sanctuary as a pioneering, welfare‑led project that has faced technical, climatic and health challenges. Graham McGrath, managing director at Sea Life Trust, said the organisation “strongly reject[s] the implication that the Beluga Whale Sanctuary project is failing or that there is any commercial motive behind our work.” He said the whales had experienced “an environment far closer to their natural home than ever before” and that the sanctuary team had managed severe weather, COVID‑19 impacts, construction complexities and temporary health issues with the whales’ welfare as the priority.
Rob Hicks, vice president for global conservation, welfare and education at Merlin Entertainments, said the trust is “an independent and not‑for‑profit charity” and that Merlin’s support reflected a long‑held view that cetaceans should not be kept in captivity for frivolous entertainment. He said decisions about the whales’ location were driven by what was best for them and described continued work to adapt the sanctuary and care facilities.
The sanctuary’s most recent public update, posted July 31, said engineers had been modifying an “Intermediate Halo Habitat” intended to help the whales acclimatise to the bay. The organisation said adaptations to the sanctuary were progressing but that the decision had been taken to pause a planned return of Little Grey and Little White to the bay until spring 2026. The statement said the whales were “doing well and are healthy in their landside care facility where we’ve continued to carefully monitor their progress.”
Visitors are still able to view the animals at the Beluga Whale Sanctuary’s landside facility; the attraction charges at least £16 for standard admissions and up to £33 for guided tours, figures cited in media reports show. Social media responses to sanctuary updates have been mixed, with some followers expressing disappointment at the prolonged indoor stays and others thanking the teams for their care.
Belugas have a long history in captivity: the first recorded captive beluga dates to 1861. The species was listed as “near threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2008. Unlike many cetaceans, belugas can swim backwards and are known for a complex vocal repertoire; they are born dark grey and become white by about age five. Global wild populations are spread across Arctic and sub‑Arctic regions including northern Alaska, Canada, Greenland and parts of Russia.
The Sea Life Trust has said it remains committed to the sanctuary’s long‑term goal and to “setting the highest industry standard of care.” Critics have argued that the project highlights the difficulties of converting animals from performance environments to open‑water sanctuaries and have called for greater transparency on timetables and conditions. The Daily Mail has approached representatives of John Bishop for comment.