Four beluga whales arrived at the Shedd Aquarium in the first wave of an international effort to rescue 30 belugas from a closed marine park in Canada.
The public can’t see the whales yet, according to a Tuesday Shedd news release. Johnny Ford, vice president of communications at the Shedd Aquarium, previously said any rescued whales would initially live in a behind-the-scenes quarantine space while being monitored by experts.
The release did not say when the whales arrived — only that they got to the aquarium safely after being transported by truck and a Boeing 777 airliner.
Thirty whales are being evacuated from Marineland of Canada, a closed marine park in Niagara Falls, Ontario. According to a previous news release, Marineland’s caretakers threatened to euthanize the belugas. The Shedd Aquarium hopes to eventually house 10 whales, in addition to its current eight belugas, while facilities in the U.S. and Spain plan to take the rest.
Ford previously said the beluga facilities at the Shedd were built to hold “far more” animals than it currently has, and these facilities could probably house even more after the transfer of all 10 belugas.
SeaWorld San Antonio participated in the first move with the Shedd, rehoming two belugas, according to the news release.
The four belugas rescued by the Shedd are all females, according to the news release, and they were chosen to travel together due to “preexisting bonds.” Their names are: Acadia, Osiris, Sierra and Lillooet. The news release listed the four whales as having estimated ages of 21 to 27 years old.
Beluga whales are found globally in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Many are near Alaska.
Some beluga populations are listed as endangered or depleted. Weighing an average of 3,150 pounds, the whales have been hunted for subsistence, commerce and sport.
The Shedd Aquarium declined to make experts available to discuss belugas Tuesday, as teams were actively observing the whales.
