TORONTO—The preliminary findings of Shedd Aquarium’s necropsies of Peekachu and Rain, two beluga whales who died at the facility after their transfer from Marineland in Niagara Falls, are deeply troubling.
The discovery of foreign materials such as large rocks and paint flecks inside their stomachs, as well as evidence of underlying chronic health issues, only underscores Marineland’s cruel neglect and the failure of government to act before a preventable crisis forced a rushed rescue that these medically fragile animals could not survive.
“The Shedd’s necropsy findings of the dead belugas confirm what everybody should have known—that these whales were suffering from poor health after years of neglect at Marineland,” said Camille Labchuk, lawyer and executive director of Animal Justice, Canada’s leading animal law organization.
“It’s shocking to learn that they apparently ingested objects like rocks, paint chips, and feathers. These sick belugas deserved far better than a rushed transfer to clear the way for Marineland’s lucrative land deal to go through. Instead, there should have been efforts to improve the belugas’ health enough so they could withstand the stress of transport and a new, unfamiliar environment,” Ms. Labchuk said.
“Marineland’s closure was a slow-moving train wreck that advocates and scientists saw coming from a hundred miles away. We urged Marineland and governments years ago to create a plan for the whales, but instead of taking proactive steps, Marineland was allowed to engineer a crisis situation that paved the path for a rushed operation.”
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