CHICAGO (AP) — Four more belugas have arrived at a Chicago aquarium as part of a plan to move Canada’s last remaining captive whales from a shuttered theme park to aquariums in the United States and Spain. The four whales, named Caspian, Peekachu, Rain and Secord, were the second group of belugas sent to Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium from Marineland, in Ontario near Niagara Falls, after an initial four arrived in July. They are among a total of 30 whales and four dolphins that will be transported from Marineland after the Canadian government approved of the rescue plan, which might have saved them from mass euthanasia.Marineland announced in early 2023 that it was for sale and closed to the public in late summer 2024. Twenty whales — 19 belugas and one killer whale — have died at Marineland since 2019, according to provincial government data obtained through freedom-of-information laws and official statements.
As part of the rescue efforts, the whales have been making their international trips in custom-built slings and temperature-controlled transport containers. A team of experts flew to Canada to meet the whales’ previous caretakers months prior and pored over years of their health records in preparation for the trip.“This is a very complex and unprecedented rescue effort. This has never been done before,” said Charlie Jacobsma, the director of animal behavior and training at the Shedd Aquarium.
