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The whale, a 23-year-old female named Peekachu, died suddenly
Tuesday as caretakers tried to rehydrate her, Chicago’s Shedd
Aquarium said in a news release. Peekachu was one of eight
whales moved from Marineland park in Ontario to the Chicago
aquarium this summer — four in July, and four more this month.
Marineland shut its doors in 2024, kicking off a race to find
new homes for its 30 beluga whales and four dolphins before they
would be euthanized. The Canadian government finally approved a
plan to export the whales to the Shedd Aquarium and four other
marine parks in January.
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.
The complex operation to bring the whales to the Shedd Aquarium
saw them hoisted in custom-made slings and held in
temperature-controlled containers, aquarium officials previously
told The Associated Press. Their behavior and health were
carefully monitored to the minute once they arrived, officials
said.
Peekachu was blind in one eye and had trouble socializing with
fellow whales, the aquarium said in its announcement. The whale
showed “early signs of progress” in the days after the trip, but
blood samples taken Tuesday concerned caretakers that she was
dehydrated. As aquarium attendants tried to revitalize her with
food and medicine that evening, she died, according to the
aquarium.
The aquarium said it is committed to sharing a necropsy report
of the whale “as soon as we have one.”
Marineland's whales and dolphins will also move to Georgia
Aquarium in Atlanta, SeaWorld locations in San Antonio and San
Diego, and Oceanografic Valencia in Spain.
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