A massive emergency rescue effort to save 30 beluga whales from a defunct and decaying Canadian marine park will bring some of the abandoned and neglected animals to SeaWorld San Diego.
Three belugas will be sent to SeaWorld San Diego as part of a coordinated international effort to relocate 30 whales from the shuttered Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
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Marineland can no longer financially care for the whales and will be forced to euthanize the animals if they can’t be relocated, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Marineland was put up for sale in 2023 after the death of the park’s founder in 2018, according to the Associated Press. AP reports 19 whales have died at Marineland since 2019. The Canadian marine park closed in September 2024.
The first six whales rescued from Marineland this week were hoisted out of holding pools using heavy-duty slings and transferred to water-filled transport containers.
The belugas were transported by truck from Marineland to the airport where they were loaded on a Qatar Airways 777 aircraft. Two of the belugas were transferred to SeaWorld San Antonio and four other whales went to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.
The first rescued belugas were selected by pods to maintain preexisting relationships between the animals, according to SeaWorld.
SeaWorld San Diego veterinarians are expected to travel to Marineland in the coming weeks to assess the health of the whales and prepare them for travel, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.
The three whales heading to SeaWorld San Diego will be 13-year-old Xavier, 9-year-old Cyprus and 9-year-old Jasper — all born at Marineland.
Timelines and details of the ongoing rescue efforts will not be shared in advance to ensure the safety and security of the whales and rescue teams, according to SeaWorld.
SeaWorld San Antonio will eventually get 13 of the Marineland belugas while Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium will get a total of 10 whales, according to the Whale Sanctuary Project. The remaining Marineland belugas will go to SeaWorld San Diego (3 whales), Atlanta’s Georgia Aquarium (2) and Spain’s Oceanografic Valencia (2).