Cargolux and SEALIFE Trust have set the date for the beluga whales, Little Grey and Little White, to embark on their epic journey from China to Iceland on June 19th. The initial travel date in April had been cancelled because of bad weather in Iceland.
Both parties have been working closely with the expert project team to find a suitable date to safely relocate the whales to their new open water sanctuary home on the Island of Heimaey.
The 6,000-miles journey will take around 30 hours to complete - from the time Little Grey and Little White leave Changfeng Ocean World in Shanghai and arrive at the sanctuary on Heimaey Island, Iceland.
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| The Cargolux 747 ready to transport the whales. Photo Cargolux |
The journey will begin at Changfeng Ocean World in Shanghai.
Each beluga will be individually lifted on to specially designed stretchers measured to their physical requirements and carefully placed into specially built transportation tanks before lifted out of the aquarium by crane and loaded into two lorries
Little Grey and Little White will then travel by road, from Changfeng Ocean World to Pu Dong International airport, where a specially chartered cargo plane will be waiting on the runway to fly them to Reykjavik Airport in Iceland
Following the flight, Little Grey and Little White will be transferred on to two individual lorries and driven to catch a ferry from Landeyjahรถfn to Heimaey Island, which takes around 35 minutes to complete
Once the ferry has docked on Heimaey Island, the lorries will drive a short distance to Klettsvik Bay where Little Grey and Little White will be transferred to the beluga sanctuary landside facility and placed into a special care pool to be assessed following their journey.
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| Little Grey Photo Sealife Trust |
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| Little White Photo Sealife Trust |
For more details visit the Sealife Trust
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