Science & Nature

2 More Belugas Die at Shedd, 1 Rescue and 1 Longtime Resident

Two beluga whales died Wednesday afternoon at Shedd Aquarium: Rain, a recent rescue, and longtime resident Beethoven, officials announced.

The deaths come just days after Shedd celebrated the arrival of two additional belugas from the defunct Marineland park in Canada — the culmination of an international effort to rescue 30 belugas whose fate had been uncertain ever since Marineland closed in 2024.  

Rain, a 20-year-old female, was among four belugas transferred to Shedd in mid-August as part of that process. Another whale in that group, Peekachu, died last week.

Four other belugas from Marineland have been settling in at Shedd since late July, with the aquarium accepting a total of 10 whales from the Canadian park. 

Beethoven, a 34-year-old male, was part of Shedd’s resident beluga pod. He recently fathered Opus, born at Shedd in 2024. 

“At this time, it is impossible to know if these passings are isolated or related,” Shedd said in a statement. 

Necropsies, blood tests and other exams are underway to help determine what led to the deaths.

“These losses are hard, made more difficult by the fact that it will take time to get concrete answers about what led to their passings,” a statement reads. “Some answers may come quickly, while others may take more time to come into focus. Given how closely the public has followed the rescue effort, Shedd felt it was important to share this news now rather than wait for every answer.”

Georgia Aquarium, SeaWorld San Antonio and SeaWorld San Diego in the U.S., and Oceanogràfic de València in Spain also took part in the rescue. The last belugas left Marineland this week.

This photo provided by the Shedd Aquarium shows a beluga whale named Rain swimming on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, at the aquarium in Chicago. (Heidi Zeiger / Shedd Aquarium via AP)

Animal rights advocates in Canada had expressed concern at the outset of the rescue that some if not all of Marineland’s whales may have been in poor health. 

Animal Justice, Canada’s national animal law organization, pointed to a prior transfer of five belugas from Marineland to Connecticut in 2021. Three of those whales died.

Following the deaths at Shedd, Animal Justice blasted Marineland and the Canadian government.

Kaitlyn Mitchell, director of legal advocacy for the organization, said the rushed process “likely had far more to do with clearing the way for Marineland’s real estate deal than it did with these animals’ welfare.”

Animal Justice had petitioned for a pause on the transports after Peekachu died, requesting independent health assessments of the remaining belugas at the marine park.

“Rather than rushing to ship the animals off site, Canada should have done its due diligence and made sure they were truly healthy enough, as well as properly prepared and conditioned, for transport,” Mitchell said. “This saga did not have to end this way.”

Marineland, a longtime tourist attraction in Niagara Falls, Ontario, had been cited by the Canadian government for animal welfare concerns. Between 2019 and 2025, 19 belugas, one killer whale and one dolphin died at Marineland.

After closing to the public, Marineland had cut a deal to send the belugas to China, a plan that was blocked by Canadian authorities, leading the park to threaten to euthanize the whales, saying it was running out of money to care for them.

According to a report from the Canadian Press, all of the transferred whales were given a clean bill of health before each move. The country’s Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson gave final approval before each transfer.

Shedd’s animal care and veterinary staff continue to closely monitor the aquarium’s beluga population around the clock, officials said. 

Contact Patty Wetli: [email protected]

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