Two female beluga whales transferred from the defunct Marineland of Canada theme park to Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium have died shortly after their relocation.
The Shedd Aquarium took in 10 whales out of 30 that were stranded at the theme park since its closure in 2024, per the Shedd website:
• July arrivals: 27-year-old female Acadia, 26-year-old females Osiris and Sierra and 21-year-old female Lillooet.
• Mid-August arrivals: 27-year-old female Caspian, 23-year-old female Peekachu, 22-year-old female Secord and 20-year-old female Rain.
• Tuesday arrivals: 8-year-old male Yukon and 7-year-old male Gimli.
The eight female whales the aquarium took in were originally caught in the wild in Russia, while the two young males were born at Marineland, with Yukon being Acadia’s son and Gimli being Secord’s son, according to Ceta Base, a global inventory of dolphins, porpoises and whales in human care.
Peekachu was the first to go, dying suddenly on Aug. 25 while Shedd staff were giving her medicine and fluids.
Aquarium officials said they had noticed before Peekachu’s death that she was not eating as much as she should have been and they were worried that she was dehydrated, so the care team took blood samples.
Rain died earlier this week along with Beethoven, a 34-year-old male that had been living at Shedd for years. Necropsies for all three deceased whales are ongoing to figure out the cause of their deaths.
In an update on Friday, aquarium officials said, “Some of the rescued belugas are showing more encouraging signs than others, but several have presented clinical concerns, and their health can change quickly. None are yet where we want them to be from a health standpoint. We remain unwavering in our commitment to their care.”
Before the relocation, which also sent beluga whales to SeaWorld San Antonio, SeaWorld San Diego, the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and Oceanografic Valencia in Spain, 19 other belugas and a killer whale had died at Marineland since 2019, according to The Associated Press.
The Canadian Ministry of Fisheries gave all of the relocated belugas clean bills of health prior to their respective moves, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
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