Chicago aquarium says transferred Marineland belugas have health concerns

Shedd Aquarium in Chicago says several belugas transferred from Ontario’s Marineland have health concerns and are under round-the-clock supervision. Teams are monitoring hydration, breathing rates, swimming patterns, social interaction and other behaviours.

The update follows the deaths of three whales at the aquarium within a week. Two were belugas from Marineland: Peekachu died Aug. 25, two weeks after its relocation, and Rain, a 20-year-old beluga moved in mid-August, also died. A 34-year-old beluga that had lived in Chicago for decades also died.

Shedd said it is awaiting laboratory results while investigating the deaths and that the health of the remaining animals remains uncertain. Some rescued belugas are showing more encouraging signs than others, but several have presented clinical concerns and their condition can change daily or hourly. Belugas obtain most of their hydration through fish; some of the transferred animals are eating regularly while others are not. The aquarium said none of the belugas is where it wants them to be from a health standpoint.

The belugas had been cleared as healthy in the days before their moves, with Fisheries Minister Thompson responsible for final approval. Marineland, the Niagara Falls, Ont., theme park that closed after running out of money and is now for sale, last week completed the largest collective relocation of captive whales in the world. Over several weeks, it sent 30 belugas and four dolphins to five aquariums in the United States and Spain, ending whale captivity in Canada.

Marineland had threatened to euthanize the animals without emergency funding after the federal government blocked an earlier proposal to transfer them to China. In 2021, five whales moved from Marineland to Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut; two died within a year and a third died two years after the transfer. Mystic said the whales had pre-existing conditions, while Marineland said they were healthy when they left. Nineteen belugas, one killer whale and one dolphin died at Marineland between 2019 and 2025.