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.
“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.
Rocks among foreign objects in stomachs
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.
“It’s just one of the things that happens to bored, intelligent animals,” said Naomi Rose, marine mammal scientist for the Animal Welfare Institute in Washington, DC.
“If nobody’s there to sort of keep an eye on that and remove those objects, then they’ll play with them in that way. And every once in a while, they ingest them.”
Shedd said it doesn’t believe the foreign materials were directly related to their passing. The necropsy also found no evidence of communicable disease.
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.
Ottawa cites apparent ‘neglect’ of whales
A statement from the office of Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson 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 a statement to CBC News on Friday, Marineland called the deaths of the two whales “extremely unfortunate, and our thoughts are with those who cared for them at Marineland and Shedd.”
“We acknowledge and appreciate the DFO’s [Department of Fisheries and Oceans’] concern and note that they had no oversight, role, responsibility or expertise in or for animal care at Marineland.”
Citing Shedd’s early indications that the whales died from inflammation, Marineland said it agrees that the materials found in their digestive tracts weren’t the cause.
“Belugas are naturally curious animals that investigate and occasionally swallow objects in their environment, both in human care and in the wild, just like the family dog does from time to time.
“Our veterinary and animal care teams successfully cared for Peekachu for 23 years and Rain for 20 years, for every day of their lives with us, in a large outdoor habitat alongside the social group they had always known,” the statement said.
“We are focused on supporting the ongoing care of the rehoused animals and improving their lives while the process of investigation continues.”
The Chicago aquarium said in a statement that 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.”
‘I’m still expecting more of these whales to die’
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.”
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