Two beluga whales have died at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium within weeks of being rescued from an abandoned theme park in Canada. The aquarium confirmed the deaths of Rain, a 20-year-old female, and Beethoven, a 34-year-old male, on Wednesday.
These two deaths follow the passing of another whale from the same rescue group last week, according to ABC7. Shedd Aquarium stated that animal care and veterinary teams made immediate efforts to provide life-saving measures. "At this time, it's impossible to know if these passings are isolated or related," the aquarium said in a statement.
The final group of rescued beluga whales arrived at the Shedd Aquarium on Tuesday as part of a larger international rescue effort. Since July, several beluga whales have been relocated from Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, after officials there threatened to euthanize the animals. The park has been closed to the public for two years, and in 2025 it was reported that 30 beluga whales remained in its tanks.
The mission to move the whales to new homes began in July, following years of campaigning by the charity TideBreakers. TideBreakers co-founder Marketa Schusterova had previously expressed concerns about the lack of operational sea sanctuaries for beluga whales worldwide, noting that relocation to captive facilities was the only realistic short-term option. An animal care team at Shedd Aquarium had been monitoring all nine rescued whales around the clock.
Beluga whales can grow up to 15 feet long and weigh as much as 3,300 pounds. The rescued animals are being moved to facilities in Atlanta, Chicago, San Antonio, San Diego, and Spain.