Georgia Aquarium Georgia Aquarium News

uszoo said:
Seaworld has enough orcas and has a sucessful breeding program that has supplied whales for parks in france and loro parque, so they do not need whales from the wild.
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Sea World has only 28 whales. That is not a healthy, sustainable population. They will have to import whales eventually in order to maintain genetic diversity.
 
This is excellent news! I follow captive populations extensively and with most US animals too old to reproduce and naturally low survival rates for calves (both equally in the wild and captivity), the captive population is in desperate need of new animals and new genes. The new animals will be very important to help and encourage more conservation and research programs stateside and make a more stable population here. I follow Georgia Aquarium extensively and support them greatly. They spent a significant amount of time and money in researching the population and conservation/research effort and effects. They're also assisting the Alaska Sea Life Center care for the rescued newborn beluga calf that got separated from its mother in a storm and is unable to be returned to the wild. In terms of facilities for new animals, the Alaska Sea Life Center and several other institutions do have room. Also, the proposal for a new aquarium in Rhode Island has a beluga exhibit, and the Navy Marine Mammal Program has space and plenty of experience, with more comprehensive research having been conducted there than anywhere else. I hope that conservationists allow the program to proceed.
 
More information about the 18 belugas to be imported:

If everything is carried out, the initial distribution of the 18 animals proposed to be imported will be: three will be going to the Georgia Aquarium; Shedd will receive four animals; SW San Antonio, six; SW Orlando, two; and SW San Diego, three. All the whales will be owned by the Georgia Aquarium, so the transfers will be made under breeding loan agreements. At first, it seems that Mystic Aquarium won't receive any, but some animals might be transported there in the future. Most of the whales were captured in 2010, but some of them in 2006 and 2011.

More information including legal documents can be found here:
Georgia Aquarium Application to Import 18 Beluga Whales (File No. 17324) :: NOAA Fisheries
 
ocean_boy said:
More information about the 18 belugas to be imported:

If everything is carried out, the initial distribution of the 18 animals proposed to be imported will be: three will be going to the Georgia Aquarium; Shedd will receive four animals; SW San Antonio, six; SW Orlando, two; and SW San Diego, three. All the whales will be owned by the Georgia Aquarium, so the transfers will be made under breeding loan agreements. At first, it seems that Mystic Aquarium won't receive any, but some animals might be transported there in the future. Most of the whales were captured in 2010, but some of them in 2006 and 2011.

More information including legal documents can be found here:
Georgia Aquarium Application to Import 18 Beluga Whales (File No. 17324) :: NOAA Fisheries
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Mystic won't be getting any of the Belugas as they are trying to focus on breeding their 2 females now. Neither have had calves, so they're among the most genetically important Belugas in North America.
 
I'm really enjoying seeing this Aquarium each week on the Saturday morning TV show, "Ocean Mysteries".
 
The Aquarium has just confirmed my belief that Maris, the adult female beluga whale, is pregnant. The new calf is due next Spring. As the second born calf to Maris, this calf has a much higher chance of survival than the first born did. So excited and hoping for the best! The calf will be born in time for the Aquarium's 10 year anniversary next November.

In other news, Beethoven the adult male beluga whale was just relocated to Shedd Aquarium for breeding, where they need another male. I'm going to really miss him at Georgia; I've gotten to know him really well and always go behind the scenes to interact with him and Qinu.

Also, the Aquarium is renovating the Georgia Explorer gallery for the upcoming 10th anniversary, although the Aquarium hasn't released yet what new features are being included in the renovation.

Blog - Georgia Aquarium
 
WhiteTiger said:
The Aquarium has just confirmed my belief that Maris, the adult female beluga whale, is pregnant. The new calf is due next Spring. As the second born calf to Maris, this calf has a much higher chance of survival than the first born did. So excited and hoping for the best! The calf will be born in time for the Aquarium's 10 year anniversary next November.
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This is wonderful news! Hopefully there's still a chance to get some similar news out of Mystic. :)
 
I spend a lot of time there and have swam/dove with them several times (best animal experience on the planet – worth every penny to do). Alice is the heaviest while Trixie is the longest. They grow constantly so their size is always increasing (they average roughly a foot in growth a year), but Trixie is roughly around 26 feet, Alice 25 feet, Taroko 21-22 feet, and Yushan around 20-21 feet long last time I checked. That’s between 7-10 feet in growth since they arrived 7 and 8 years ago. I expect they could each be a foot longer than that by now. They have a bit more to grow before they are mature enough to reproduce, with the females needing to reach around 30 feet in length to do so. Both Alice and Trixie are older than the males and larger by nature, so they will probably always remain bigger than the boys. When they swim side by side, the females right now dwarf the males in both length and bulk.
 
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