Another beluga whale rescued from a troubled Canadian marine park and brought to Chicago\u2019s Shedd Aquarium earlier this summer has died, the facility announced Friday.<\/p>\n
In a blog post<\/a>, the aquarium staff said Caspian, a 27-year-old female beluga, died Wednesday evening \u201cdespite intensive efforts by Shedd\u2019s veterinary and animal care teams to save her.\u201d<\/p>\n Caspian arrived at Shedd in mid-August as part of the recent international effort to save 30 whales<\/a> that had previously been housed at the now-shuttered Marineland of Canada in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The whales were evacuated to Shedd and other facilities across the U.S. and Spain after Marineland\u2019s owners threatened to euthanize the belugas if long-term solutions weren\u2019t found, according to a previous Shedd news release.<\/p>\n A total of 10 whales arrived at Shedd over the past few months, more than doubling the aquarium\u2019s pod size.<\/p>\n Caspian marks the fourth rescued whale to die at Shedd since the evacuation efforts got underway. The first was 23-year-old Peekachu, who died Aug. 25<\/a>. Then followed 30-year-old Rain<\/a> on Sept. 2 and 26-year-old Osiris<\/a> on Sept. 21.<\/p>\n Those aren\u2019t the only fatalities in recent weeks.\u00a0Beethoven, a 34-year-old beluga who had already been living at Shedd for decades, also died in early September. And in Spain, another beluga from Marineland \u2014 19-year-old Jelly Bean \u2014 died at Oceanogr\u00e0fic Val\u00e8ncia just over three weeks ago.<\/p>\n Shedd, in its blog post Friday, said Caspian\u2019s health had been of growing concern for weeks. She\u2019d been eating less than her full diet, which is a serious concern given belugas depend on food for hydration as well as nutrition, the post said. But ultimately, her condition deteriorated Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cVeterinary and care teams worked tirelessly to keep her on life support for several hours in an attempt to save her life, but she could not recover and ultimately passed away,\u201d Shedd said in a statement to the Tribune late Friday.<\/p>\n During lifesaving efforts, care teams collected blood samples that showed abnormalities in both Caspian\u2019s electrolyte levels and blood pH, according to the aquarium\u2019s blog post. Her blood pH in particular showed her blood had become dangerously acidic, a disturbance that can interfere with the heart\u2019s ability to work effectively, Shedd\u2019s staff said. But these findings alone do not establish what led to her death. Rather, a necropsy will allow veterinarians and external pathology experts to better understand what happened.<\/p>\n Officials said the loss comes as they are still uncovering more information, through necropsy examinations, about the chronic and severe illnesses that the other late beluga rescues were experiencing before their deaths.<\/p>\n Late last month, aquarium officials released the first glimpse of what may have gone wrong in a report detailing the preliminary medical findings<\/a> from the losses of Peekachu, Rain and Beethoven.<\/p>\n The report stated that both Peekachu and Rain suffered from chronic gastrointestinal disease that likely developed months or years before their transport. Peekachu\u2019s examinations also revealed that she had bird feathers, sticks and large rocks in her stomach, materials that officials said she could not have ingested while at Shedd.<\/p>\n Officials have since completed Rain and Peekachu\u2019s final reports, staff said this week, which both identified significant, longstanding inflammation in their digestive systems. External pathology experts concluded that underlying diseases may have made both whales more susceptible to cardiovascular stress, which contributed to their deaths, officials said.<\/p>\n Separately, Shedd has also released preliminary findings from Osiris\u2019 examination. Early reports point to chronic liver disease, officials say. For now, though, her full report is still underway, which will help clarify the extent of her illness and its possible role in her death, per the aquarium.<\/p>\n Beethoven, meanwhile, had \u201chealth changes associated with aging\u201d that affected his cardiovascular system, veterinarians found. Shedd found no evidence of a shared infectious disease or environmental factor connecting the deaths of Peekachu, Rain and Beethoven.<\/p>\n Some experts, though, have said that the aquarium\u2019s findings fall short<\/a>. The controversial rescue has also raised the alarm among some activists who say a rushed transfer process<\/a> may have contributed to the whales\u2019 deaths.<\/p>\n In announcing Caspian\u2019s death Friday, Shedd also acknowledged how the six remaining rescued belugas are faring. All six, according to the aquarium, are eating their full diets. They\u2019re also reaching \u201cnew milestones in their care,\u201d Shedd said on its blog.<\/p>\n \u201cAcross the institutions involved in these efforts,\u201d the blog stated, \u201cteams continue to share observations, compare the whales\u2019 progress and learn from one another as their care evolves.\u201d<\/p>\n Chicago Tribune\u2019s Finnegan Belleau, Adriana P\u00e9rez and Lila Hempel-Edgers contributed.\u00a0<\/p>\n