Two Beluga whales rescued from abandoned water park have died
A Chicago aquarium has spoken out about the 'extraordinarily difficult' circumstances that saw two beluga whales die in their care just weeks after they were finally rescued from an abandoned water park in Canada.
The issue of animals left in closed down water parks is clearly not one that is just limited to France, where the abandoned orcas continue to perform tricks to a non-existent audience in filthy conditions.
Marineland has a number of locations across the world but its major theme parks and aquariums in France and Canada were both forced to close, which tragically saw several animals left behind.
After its Ontario outlet closed its doors permanently in 2024, an international effort was launched to relocate the 30 beluga whales and four dolphins that were still stuck in their tanks.
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Back in October 2025, the park issued an ultimatum to suggest that it would be forced to kill the beluga whales unless a key condition was met and thankfully they were able to arrange a deal with the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.
Melissa Matlow, a Toronto-based animal welfare adviser at World Animal Protection, told The New York Times that the park's threats last year were 'repugnant'.
"Threatening to kill all their animals if they don’t get emergency funding is just repugnant," she said in a statement.
"We need to take comfort that this is the last generation of whales and dolphins that will ever have to suffer again in Canada."
Although they were successfully able to transfer the beluga whales and dolphins to their new home a few weeks ago, it hasn't been the best start to life in their new surroundings, after two sadly passed away.
To make matters worse, Beethoven, a 34-year-old whale who had lived at the facility for over three decades, also died on the same day as Rain, a recently rescued 20-year-old female, whereas Peekachu died on 25 August.
“Losing any animal is extraordinarily difficult. Losing Beethoven and Rain so soon after Peekachu carries a profound weight for the people who knew and cared for them,” the aquarium said.
They paid tribute to Beethoven, writing: "Over more than three decades, generations of guests learned about belugas and wildlife through a connection with Beethoven.
“From the beginning, we understood that every rescued whale would come with an individual history, health profile and set of needs, and that acclimation would look different for each animal. That remains true today.
“What is also true is that Beethoven and Rain were two individual animals, each known and cared for in their own way. Each tremendously missed.”
Both Rain and Beethoven’s deaths were unexpected, with the aquarium admitting that not much is known at this point about what exactly led to their deaths.
While some would make comments about keeping these animals in captivity, there is also an argument that they might not survive in the wild, and therefore there were perhaps always likely to be some losses in the aftermath of this transportation process.
Shedd will be hoping to give the other rescued beluga whales long lives in much better conditions, especially after a total of 20 whales died in the care of Marineland Ontario between 2019 and 2024.
Topics: Animals
James Moorhouse