Nov04
Beluga Whale Dies
Posted at 03:58 PM | Permalink
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Comments (5)
A beluga whale named Nico died this week at SeaWorld San Antonio, where he was being temporarily housed while the Georgia Aquarium underwent renovations. This marks the third time in the last three years that a beluga whale from the Georgia Aquarium has died.
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The cause of Nico's death has not yet been determined, but according to aquarium officials, he was already ailing when he was obtained from a Mexican aquarium along with another beluga whale, Gasper, who died in January 2007. The aquarium's two surviving whales, Maris and Natasha, are on loan from the New York Aquarium. A third beluga whale from New York, Marina, also died in 2007.
In a chirpy news release announcing the arrival of Maris, Natasha, and Marina in 2005, the aquarium expressed the hope that "we soon [will] have baby beluga whales."
In the same news release, the aquarium announced the arrival of Ralph and Norton, two whale sharks who—you guessed it—are now dead. Seeing a trend here?
Instead of swimming freely in the sea, animals at aquariums are relegated to a world that's measured in feet instead of fathoms. Beluga whales are extremely social animals who—when left to their own devices—play, chase each other, and interact in extended pods. They have been called "sea canaries" because of their complex vocalizations, which they use to communicate with each other.
In captivity, these whales have little room for exercise and are cut off from their natural social groups. While they might not have to face natural enemies, the stress of captivity is apparently the scariest "predator" of all.
Posted by Alisa Mullins
TAGGED:
whales georgia aquariums beluga whales
Comments
Why aren't we doing anything about this?!
Posted by: Kelsey Helmstetter | November 4, 2009 05:29 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjUYAom5i4c
Rest in Peace baby beluga...
Posted by: Austin Campbell | November 4, 2009 09:52 PM
The greatest thing about visiting Zoos and Aquariums?
They show us, animals should not be in Zoos and Aquariums.
Posted by: Ron | November 5, 2009 02:17 AM
I was there when I passed through Georgia a few weeks ago, and even though the tank is massive, whale sharks are huuuuuuge. They looked like they could use a lot more space.
The manta ray, on the other hand, looked pretty active and content to be playing with all the smaller rays.
I discovered post-visit that they'd been losing the whale sharks--which made me wonder why they insist on replacing them if the environment at the aquarium is just inherently unsuitable for them to thrive.
Posted by: Kalama Halamezad | November 6, 2009 05:21 AM
I live in San Antonio.
This isn't the first time an animal as died at Sea World.
May this wonderful animal finally rest in peace.
Posted by: Shari | November 6, 2009 03:44 PM