Two rescued beluga whales die at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium days after another rescue death

Two beluga whales, including one recently rescued from a shuttered Canadian theme park, have died at a Chicago aquarium — days after another rescued beluga died at the facility.

Rain, a 20-year-old female beluga who arrived at the Shedd Aquarium in August from Marineland in Canada, and Beethoven, a 34-year-old male who had been part of Shedd’s resident beluga pod for decades, both died on Wednesday, the Shedd Aquarium confirmed.

Over the summer, the Shedd rescued eight belugas from Marineland, a theme park in Ontario that permanently closed in 2024, prompting an international effort to relocate its 30 beluga whales and four dolphins.

One of the rescued whales, Peekachu, a 22-year-old female beluga, died unexpectedly at the Shedd on August 25.

“Losing any animal is extraordinarily difficult. Losing Beethoven and Rain so soon after Peekachu carries a profound weight for the people who knew and cared for them,” the aquarium said.

While Rain only arrived at Shedd several weeks ago, Beethoven was the oldest adult male in the aquarium’s beluga pod and the second-largest beluga at Shedd, spanning 14 feet in length and weighing 1,900 pounds.

“Over more than three decades, generations of guests learned about belugas and wildlife through a connection with Beethoven,” the aquarium said.

Meanwhile, Rain “was only beginning her story” at Shedd, but could be recognized by a dark mark along her right side, the aquarium said.

Both Rain and Beethoven’s deaths were unexpected, and the aquarium said there is “still much we do not know about what led to them.”

Necropsies, blood tests and other exams are underway to help better understand what happened, Shedd said.

“From the beginning, we understood that every rescued whale would come with an individual history, health profile and set of needs, and that acclimation would look different for each animal. That remains true today,” the aquarium said.

“What is also true is that Beethoven and Rain were two individual animals, each known and cared for in their own way. Each tremendously missed.”

Marineland, the shuttered theme park, had seen 20 whales — 19 belugas and one killer whale — die at the facility since 2019.

The effort to bring the whales to Shedd and several other aquariums saw the creatures hoisted in custom-made slings and transported in temperature-controlled containers.

Marineland’s other whales and dolphins were brought to Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, SeaWorld locations in San Antonio and San Diego and Oceanogràfic Valencia in Spain.