{"id":828162,"date":"2026-08-28T01:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T01:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/828162\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T01:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T01:42:11","slug":"23-year-old-beluga-whale-dies-at-chicago-aquarium-days-after-rescue-effort-from-shuttered-canada-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/828162\/","title":{"rendered":"23-year-old beluga whale dies at Chicago aquarium days after rescue effort from shuttered Canada park"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 A beluga whale died days after she was transported hundreds of miles to a Chicago aquarium from a shuttered Ontario park<\/a> as part of an ongoing effort to rescue Canada\u2019s last captive whales.<\/p>\n

The whale, a 23-year-old female named Peekachu, died suddenly Tuesday as caretakers tried to rehydrate her, Chicago\u2019s Shedd Aquarium said in a news release. <\/p>\n

Peekachu was one of eight whales moved from Marineland park in Ontario<\/a> to the Chicago aquarium this summer \u2014 four in July, and\u00a0four more this month.<\/p>\n

Beluga whale Peekachu is seen at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago on Aug. 17, 2026. Shedd Aquarium via AP<\/p>\n

Beluga whales swim in an outdoor pool at the closed marine park Marineland Canada in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, on Aug. 11, 2026. REUTERS<\/p>\n

The whales are pictured before their relocation to aquariums in the US and Spain. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Marineland shut its doors in 2024, kicking off a race to find new homes for its 30 beluga whales<\/a> and four dolphins before they would be euthanized<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The Canadian government finally approved a plan to export the whales to the Shedd Aquarium and four other marine parks in January.<\/p>\n

Twenty whales \u2014 19 belugas and one killer whale \u2014 have died at Marineland since 2019, according to provincial government data obtained through freedom-of-information laws and official statements.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

A rescued beluga whale arrives at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago on Aug. 13, 2026. Shedd Aquarium via AP<\/p>\n

Their behavior and health were carefully monitored to the minute once they arrived, officials said.<\/p>\n

Peekachu was blind in one eye and had trouble socializing with fellow whales, the aquarium said in its announcement. <\/p>\n

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The whale showed \u201cearly signs of progress\u201d in the days after the trip, but blood samples taken Tuesday concerned caretakers that she was dehydrated. <\/p>\n

As aquarium attendants tried to revitalize her with food and medicine that evening, she died, according to the aquarium.<\/p>\n

The aquarium said it is committed to sharing a necropsy report of the whale \u201cas soon as we have one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marineland\u2019s whales and dolphins will also move to Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, SeaWorld locations in San Antonio and San Diego, and Oceanografic Valencia in Spain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 A beluga whale died days after she was transported hundreds of miles to a Chicago…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":828163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[14144,1147,8609,26522,192,20194,79,194,34688],"class_list":["post-828162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-animal","tag-animals","tag-death","tag-deaths","tag-environment","tag-marine-life","tag-science","tag-us-news","tag-whales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}