The Rescued Belugas: Updates on Loss, Health and On-Going Care
Rescued beluga whale Caspian swimming in the Abbott Oceanarium
The story of these rescued belugas has reached far beyond Shedd, bringing people together around a shared hope for their future. So many of you have come to know these whales, followed their progress and cared about how they are doing. That care connects us as we share several updates this week, along with more of what we’re learning about their health.
Saying Goodbye to Caspian
Caspian, the 27-year-old female beluga rescued from Marineland of Canada, died Wednesday evening, October 7, despite intensive efforts by Shedd’s veterinary and animal care teams to save her.
Over the past several weeks, we have shared our growing concern for Caspian’s health. She continued to eat less than her full diet, a serious concern because belugas depend on their food for hydration as well as nutrition. Her team had been closely monitoring her condition, consulting with some of her prior care team at Marineland and adjusting her supportive care while keeping her environment calm and predictable.
As her condition deteriorated Wednesday, our team provided lifesaving support, including hydration and medication. They sustained her on life support for nearly four hours, requiring continuous care and close coordination, but she could not recover.
During these lifesaving efforts, care teams collected blood samples that revealed abnormalities in both Caspian’s electrolyte levels and blood pH. Electrolytes are minerals that help regulate fluid balance and other essential functions. Her blood pH showed that her blood had become dangerously acidic, a severe disturbance in her acid-base balance that can interfere with the heart’s ability to work effectively. These findings were particularly concerning as she was eating less of the diet that normally provides much of her hydration. Together, they helped our veterinarians understand how critically ill she was, but do not, on their own, establish what led to her 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.
Caspian’s loss is felt deeply by the people who knew and cared for her and by those who followed her story. Our team worked to give her every opportunity to recover. We will share what her examination adds to our understanding with the same care and openness.
Understanding the Illnesses Behind the Losses
Since January and through multiple visits, our teams reviewed medical histories and worked in close cooperation with Canadian veterinary and animal care colleagues in Marineland to prepare for the whales’ care. We knew that some could have substantial, longstanding medical needs. Those assessments informed our planning but could not reveal every underlying condition or predict how each whale would respond to the transition. The rescue offered a path to continued, specialized care.
An animal can appear stable while living with significant chronic disease. As we shared previously, Rain and Peekachu’s examinations identified longstanding intestinal illness that began before their rescue. For an animal already living with illness, the demands of transport and adjustment to different surroundings, routines and caregivers may add to existing vulnerabilities. Understanding whether and how those factors contributed to a whale’s decline requires examining her medical history, clinical observations and pathology findings together.
We now have their final reports and very preliminary findings from Osiris’s examination to share.
Rescued beluga whale Rain swimming in the Abbott Oceanarium
What Rain and Peekachu's Final Reports Tell Us
Rain and Peekachu's final reports both identified significant, longstanding inflammation in their digestive systems. For both whales, food intake was only part of the picture. Even when an animal eats, observation alone cannot show how effectively her body is digesting food or absorbing nutrients and water. Their examinations provide a fuller understanding of their individual illnesses.
Rain’s small intestine showed severe chronic enteritis, or longstanding inflammation, consistent with the loss of appetite observed during her care. Her liver showed changes and more recent areas of tissue death, called necrotizing hepatitis. The pattern suggested that inflammation had spread from her intestine into her liver, although no infectious organisms were identified in the examined liver tissue. Low white blood cell counts added to the picture of her immune system at work and illness. Her airways showed longstanding inflammation and evidence of a resolving fungal infection, while special stains focused on active cells showed no clear evidence of a current fungal infection in the lung tissue. All together, these conditions likely contributed to substantial inflammation throughout Rain’s body.
Peekachu’s longstanding intestinal disease may have contributed to reduced eating and declining health. Changes in several organs were consistent with decreased food intake, helping connect the underlying illness with her more recent decline. Her examination also identified age-related tissue changes, preexisting hypertension, or high blood pressure, and lung scarring consistent with an earlier injury or resolved pneumonia.
External pathology experts concluded that underlying diseases may have made both whales more susceptible to cardiovascular stress, which contributed to their deaths. Neither report establishes exactly what triggered these responses. Our veterinarians assess the findings alongside each whale’s medical history and the observations made during her care.
Separately, Osiris’s preliminary examination identified chronic liver disease. This makes it harder for the liver to do its essential work, including processing nutrients and removing waste from the blood. Her full report is still underway and will help clarify the extent of her illness and its possible role in her death.
One Shedd caretaker gently touches rescued beluga whale Secord on the chin
Encouraging Signs Among the Other Rescued Whales
All six remaining rescued belugas are eating their full diets. That includes Secord, whose appetite we have followed closely and discussed in earlier updates. It is especially welcome to see her eating more regularly and heartily.
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.
Each new behavior creates another opportunity for veterinarians to examine a whale, gather information, and better understand their individual health needs. These are meaningful steps, made possible through growing familiarity, patience and trust.
Across the institutions involved in these efforts, teams continue to share observations, compare the whales’ progress and learn from one another as their care evolves.