4th beluga whale rescued from Marineland dies at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago

A fourth beluga whale rescued from the shuttered Marineland theme park in Canada and brought to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago this summer has died.

Caspian, a 27-year-old female, had been among the belugas "of greatest clinical concern" since she arrived at the Shedd Aquarium in August.

"She wasn't eating enough to meet her nutritional and hydration needs. Her teams worked closely together, carefully adjusting her care, in hopes that her health would improve," Shedd officials said in a blog post on Friday. "When her condition deteriorated Wednesday, our veterinary and animal care teams worked for nearly four hours to sustain her on life support. Supporting her breathing, providing fluids and medication, and responding to her changing condition required extraordinary skill and coordination, but Caspian did not recover."

A necropsy has been scheduled to help determine exactly what caused Caspian's death.

"Even when we know an animal is seriously ill, outward behavior and blood tests cannot reveal the full extent of underlying disease. Animals can mask signs of illness, continuing familiar behaviors while their health deteriorates. Caspian's necropsy will allow veterinarians and external pathology experts to examine her organs and tissues directly, including microscopic changes that could not be identified during her care," Shedd officials wrote.

A total of 10 belugas from Marineland were brought to the Shedd Aquarium in July and August. Four of them have since died, including Caspian, Rain, Peekachu, and Osiris.

Shedd officials said they are closely monitoring the conditions of the six remaining belugas from Marineland.

A fifth beluga at Shedd, longtime Shedd resident Beethoven, who was not rescued from Marineland, also died in September.

Animal advocates have been closely watching the transfer and outcomes of the whales that arrived from Marineland at all the facilities around the world, including the Shedd. They said it's hard to know what kind of shape they were in ahead of the cross-country travel.

In the June 25 letter to the American aquariums receiving the Marineland mammals, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration acknowledged, "the whales are health-compromised" and without relocation Marineland would cease medical care "and instead will euthanize these animals."

Osiris was one of the first four belugas transferred from Marineland to the Shedd on July 21. Another four followed on Aug. 13.

Shedd staff announced Peekachu, a whale from the second group, had died less than two weeks later on Aug. 26.

More belugas would arrive just one day before staff announced Rain, also from the second transfer group, had died. So had long-time resident beluga Beethoven.

Concerns grew for Osiris as the Shedd announced she was receiving special treatment for dehydration and an electrolyte imbalance on Aug. 14.

On Aug. 16, authorities in Spain announced one of their own rescued belugas, Jelly Bean, had died.

Then Shedd announced Osiris had died one week after her health concerns had been announced.

Shedd officials said the six other rescued belugas are eating full diets, including Secord, who initially had not been consistently taking food.

"It is especially welcome to see her eating more regularly and heartily," Shedd officials wrote. "The whales are also reaching new milestones in their care. All six have presented their flukes during care sessions, and some, including Gimli, have participated in blood draws. Our teams are building on the knowledge shared by their previous care team, adapting familiar cues and routines to a new environment while helping the whales learn new behaviors."

Two weeks ago, the aquarium released its first findings from necropsies performed on Rain, Peekachu and Beethoven.

Shedd officials said microscopic examination of tissue and organ samples taken from Peekachu and Rain found chronic inflammatory disease in their gastrointestinal systems, which was significant in Peekachu and severe in Rain.

"It's usually due to ulcers and/or bacteria, intestinal bacteria," said Dr. Lori Marino, neuroscientist and animal behavior expert.

Marino has studied dolphins and whales for more than 30 years, and is the founder and president of Whale Sanctuary Project. She opposes marine mammals being in captivity, and her organization is dedicated to creating seaside sanctuaries for whales and dolphins once held in captivity.

"It shows that these animals were not in any condition to be moved, to be transferred," she said. "For a long time, they're just living with this chronic disease, and eventually, the stress of transfer probably just was too much for them and they couldn't overcome that."

Based on the samples, Shedd scientists believe the disease had likely been present in the whales for an extended period of time, potentially months or years, and began before they arrived at the Shedd over the summer.

The report also says foreign objects were also found in Peekachu's stomach, including bird feathers, sticks and large, porous rocks. Officials said she could not have ingested those objects at the Shedd, and they believe they were already present in her stomach when she was rescued.

Pathologists found small flecks of a material that could be paint in Rain's stomach, but not the kinds of large objects they found in Peekachu, the report said.

Shedd officials do not believe the foreign objects directly contributed to Peekachu's death but remain relevant because of how important regular nutrition is for belugas, and because they may have had an effect on the gastrointestinal illness found.

"What the presence of those items in their stomach tells you is that they were engaging in abnormal behavior. It is not normal for dolphins and whales to eat rocks, to eat non-edible items, to peel and eat paint off of the side of the tanks. But we see this time and time again in captivity," Marino said.

The results from Beethoven's necropsy were different, the Shedd said, finding health changes associated with aging, including to his cardiovascular system. Specialists and veterinarians at the Shedd are still working to understand what contributed to Beethoven's death. They said at this time they do not believe Beethoven's death is connected to the rescued whales.

The Shedd also emphasized that thusfar they have not found any evidence of communicable disease connecting those three deaths. They said the rescued whales were screened for known communicable diseases before they were brought to Chicago, and the preliminary necropsy results have not found any additional evidence of disease. They said they are conducting additional testing for a broad range of fungal, viral and bacterial diseases.

The necropsy process is currently underway for Osiris, but the aquarium said a preliminary examination identified chronic liver disease.