Post-mortem examinations of two former Marineland belugas indicate the whales were sick when they arrived last month at their new home at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.
Peekachu, 23, and Rain, 20, arrived on Aug. 13 as part of a massive operation to rehome 30 belugas and four dolphins from Niagara Falls, Ont., to four aquariums in the U.S. and one in Spain. The moves took place in six stages this summer.
Preliminary medical findings “identified significant, chronic gastrointestinal disease,” according to a Shedd Aquarium release on the two whales’ deaths.
“The disease had likely been present for an extended period,” according to the aquarium, due to “the significance of the inflammation, the types of immune cells present” and other signs.
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“These changes develop over time, potentially months or years, indicating that the disease began before the whales arrived at Shedd and compromised their health rendering them more vulnerable and sensitive,” said the statement.
Examinations on the female belugas also revealed foreign materials in their stomachs, including “bird feathers, sticks and large, porous rocks” in Peekachu, and “small flecks of material that may be paint” in Rain.
In the case of Peekachu, “she could not have ingested these materials while at Shedd, and they are believed to have been present before her rescue,” said the statement.
Shedd said it doesn’t believe the foreign materials were directly related to their passing. The necropsy also found no evidence of communicable disease.
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Marineland, the permanently closed theme park and zoo, threatened to euthanize the animals last fall, writing at the time that it was running out of money to care for them.
Another female beluga, 26-year-old Osiris, also died after arriving at Shedd Aquarium, but necropsy results aren’t currently available.
Two other former Marineland animals ‒ Jelly Bean, a 19-year-old beluga, and Echo, a 30-year-old bottlenose dolphin ‒ also died, after being rehomed to Oceanogràfic de València in Spain. Post-mortems are also being done in these cases.
A statement from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the federal body in charge of approving export of the belugas and dolphins, said the preliminary necropsy findings reveal “an unacceptable neglect for their health and well-being prior to their relocation.”
It added that “we continue to be grateful to the experienced professionals who have played a role in this operation, helping provide a dignified last chapter to these whales and supporting many others in their new homes.”
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In its statement, Shedd Aquarium said Peekachu and Rain “came to Shedd from a facility, where provincial authorities had repeatedly documented environmental concerns… Shedd understood that some whales could arrive with serious, long-standing health needs that could in no way be fully assessed before the rescue.”
Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice, questioned whether the whales were healthy enough to be moved.
“And I think that’s something that experts should have detected beforehand,” said Labchuk.
She said her group has been warning the federal and provincial governments for years that at some point, Marineland would close and the whales would need to be moved.
“There should have been a lot more diligence years ago to get these whales into a healthier condition so… they could have survived the move without paying the price with their lives.”
“This was a slow-moving disaster that everybody saw coming,” said Labchuck, “I’m still expecting more of these whales to die.”
CBC News reached out to Marineland for comment and will update this story with any response.
