Two beluga whales, Rain and Beethoven, died Wednesday at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium.. Rain was part of a recent relocation from the closed Marineland park in Ontario ,following the death of another transferred whale, Peekachu.
The sudden loss of Rain and Beethoven at Shedd Aquarium
Shedd Aquarium announced that veterinary teams were unable to save Rain, a 20-year-old female, and Beethoven, a 34-year-old male, despite immediate lifesaving efforts. While Beethoven had been a long-term resident of the Chicago facility, Rain had only arrived in mid-August from Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario. This tragedy follows the death of Peekachu, another beluga from Marineland, who died last week after suffering from severe dehydration.
According to the aquarium, the deaths were unexpected, and officials are currently conducting necropsies and blood tests to determine the cause.. The facility has acknowledged that concrete answers regarding why these animals died will take time to uncover, leaving a void of information during a highly scrutinized relocation process.
The 34-animal rescue mission from Marineland
Shedd Aquarium served as one of five destinations in an unprecedented international effort to relocate 30 belugas and four dolphins from the now-closed Marineland park. Under the agreement, Shedd Aquarium took in 10 belugas, including the recently deceased Rain and Peekachu. The final animals departed the Ontario facility on August 31, including a beluga named Tofino who was transported via truck.
Other facilities involved in the relocation include the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, SeaWorld locations in San Antonio and San Diego, and Oceanografic Valencia in Spain. The move was necessitated by Marineland's closure in 2024 and its subsequent sale, with the park reporting it had run out of funds to maintain the animals .
Canada's 2019 captivity ban and the Marineland exception
The relocation of these whales is the culmination of a long legal battle following a 2019 Canadian federal ban on keeping cetaceans in captivity. While the ban applied broadly, the Canadian government granted Marineland an exception,though it later blocked a proposed plan to move the animals to China. This blockage led Marineland to threaten the euthanasia of its whales unless emergency financial aid was provided,eventually prompting the consortium of international aquariums to step in.
Canadian Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson has defended the process, stating that the government took reasonable steps to ensure the whales were rescued safely.. As reported by the source, Minister Thompson was responsible for the final approval of the six separate moves, and the animals were reportedly given a clean bill of health before leaving Canada.
The 20 whale deaths at Marineland since 2019
The current deaths at Shedd Aquarium raise questions about the long-term health of the animals leaving Niagara Falls. Provincial government data obtained through Freedom-of-Information laws reveals that 19 belugas and one killer whale died at Marineland between 2019 and 2025, totaling 20 whale deaths, alongside one dolphin death during that period.
This pattern of post-transfer mortality is not new; in 2021, five whales were moved from Marineland to Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut. Three of those whales died within two years of the move. While Mystic Aquarium claimed the animals had pre-existing conditions, Marineland insisted they were healthy upon departure. The central mystery remains whether the stress of transport or chronic health issues from their time at Marineland contributed to the recent deaths of Rain and Peekachu in Chicago.
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