Two More Belugas Die at Shedd, Bringing Recent Losses to Three
Shedd Aquarium announced the deaths of two beluga whales on Sept. 2, one week after disclosing the loss of a third.
Rain was a 20-year-old female who arrived from Marineland in August. Beethoven, a 34-year-old male, had lived at Shedd for decades.
Rain and Peekachu reached Chicago in the same Aug. 13 transport . Beethoven belonged to Shedd's resident pod, so the three losses include two recent rescues and one whale long established in Chicago.
Shedd has not identified a cause or determined whether the deaths were related. Animal care and veterinary teams are monitoring the remaining belugas around the clock.
Open Water
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"Aww man this is so devastating," one viewer wrote beneath the report. Another replied, "Its almost like whales belong in the ocean or something."
In January, Marineland told Canada's fisheries minister it would have no choice but to euthanize its remaining belugas and dolphins if export was not approved. A Canadian government briefing note described the immediate choice as "either export or death."
The conditional authorization covered only U.S. facilities Marineland had identified. Permit applications had to name each animal's destination and include a transport plan. Each whale also needed a health assessment from a veterinarian accredited in Canada confirming that transport was appropriate.
A June Fisheries and Oceans Canada briefing described the proposed whale sanctuary in Nova Scotia as still under development and in the planning phase. On Sept. 3, the project said the sanctuary was under construction and not yet ready to receive whales.
The Missing Middle
The Whale Sanctuary Project says Marineland rejected its 2019 proposal to retire whales to a seaside sanctuary. The group argues that governments and the industry waited until Marineland's crisis left the whales with few humane options.
Its proposed alternative is a coastal sanctuary with lifelong professional care for whales that cannot return to the wild. After the three deaths at Shedd, the group called for public disclosure of what was known about the transferred whales' health, how each animal was cleared to travel, and what additional safeguards were being used for the survivors.
An Associated Press review of provincial records and official statements counted 20 whale deaths at Marineland since 2019: 19 belugas and one killer whale. Shedd accepted 10 of Marineland's 30 belugas. Eight remain at the aquarium after Peekachu's and Rain's deaths.
Shedd completed the last of three Marineland transports on Sept. 1. At that point, the aquarium said the rescued whales were still settling in and were not yet consistently performing the voluntary behaviors used during health care. Shedd expected full acclimation to take several months.
Peekachu was not consistently eating her full diet, and bloodwork raised concerns that she was dehydrated before she died as staff administered medicine and fluids.
Her final necropsy report was expected to take several weeks. Rain's and Beethoven's necropsies, blood tests, and additional exams are underway.
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