Captive Beluga Whales in the U.S. & Canada

ketos said:
For MLC, I found a visitor report from August 2022 that said they had 32 whales. They were in the Arctic Cove in two pools, 12 in one, 11 in another. Then in Friendship Cove, 9 whales. He didn't see any whales at the show area.

So that's 32 belugas, does anyone know if that's right?
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As noted by Aelita, uncertain of numbers. MLC has lacked transparency for many years on births/deaths of all animals in their collection. Since Mystic has sent a team up the their recently to help with health of the whales at MLC, there may be an opportunity to get some information that way if anything is announced. But knowing MLC's history, they may have had NDAs put in place too....

Long term, I wonder what will happen. So many rumors about MLC closing, sanctuary (not a viable option in my opinion), transfers, etc. I would like to the belugas moved with the walrus to the US (just announced that they are moving their remaining walrus to another facility). But, that seems unlikely.
 
MidwestFan said:
As noted by Aelita, uncertain of numbers. MLC has lacked transparency for many years on births/deaths of all animals in their collection. Since Mystic has sent a team up the their recently to help with health of the whales at MLC, there may be an opportunity to get some information that way if anything is announced. But knowing MLC's history, they may have had NDAs put in place too....

Long term, I wonder what will happen. So many rumors about MLC closing, sanctuary (not a viable option in my opinion), transfers, etc. I would like to the belugas moved with the walrus to the US (just announced that they are moving their remaining walrus to another facility). But, that seems unlikely.
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I don't want to see any more Marineland Belugas imported into the US population. The Mystic transfer and subsequent deaths led to enough bad press for the aquarium, and I don't want to see any more bad press or controversy for any of the US Beluga holders for issues that were not their fault. It's not worth it.
 
Aelita said:
It’s more actually. Given that both Coves have medical pools that have barriers that make those ones off limit to the public. Unfortunately uncertain of numbers
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oh, ok! I see, and good to know. I was wondering how that many were missing!
 
 
Updated US Population

SWT (6.5)
Crissy F (est 1988)
Martha F (est 1988)
Naluark M (est 1986)
Luna F (b 07/24/2000)
Samson M (b 07/09/2013)
Kenai M (b 08/11/2016)
Innik M (b 08/17/2017)
Tyonek M (b 2017)
Atla F (b 06/23/2010)
Pearl F (b 06/23/2010)
Tulok M (b 07/25/2021)

SWF (2.0)
Oliver M (b 06/23/2007)
Nunavik M (b 12/14/2009)

SWC (2.1)
Ferdinand M (est 1970)
Allua F (est 1985)
Klondike M (b 07/13/2002)

Mystic (1.5)
Natasha F (est 1980)
Kelalukak F (est 1981)
Juno M (b 07/06/2002)
Jetta F (b 07/17/2014)
Kharabali F (b 07/20/2014)
Sahara F (b 07/23/2014)

Georgia (1.4)
Whisper F (b 07/25/1999)
Maple F (b 07/02/2005)
Qinu F (b 07/31/2008)
Shila F (b 05/17/2020)
Grayson M (b 06/26/2007)

Shedd (4.5)
Mauyak F (est 1981)
Beethoven M (b 08/08/1992)
Naya F (est 1989)
Kayavak F (b 08/03/1999)
Aurek M (b 06/27/2003)
Bella F (b 07/17/2006)
Kimalu F (b 08/27/2012)
Annik M (b 07/03/2019)
Atlas M (b 08/21/2020)

Total US Population (36)
16.20
 
SWC Update:
Saw Ferdinand and Klondike on exhibit on 12/6/2022. Ferdinand has a fairly large scrape on his melon, did not look new, and appeared to be healing. Hopefully continues to heal well, at his age, any issues are concerning. He doesn't really do any high energy behaviors (high energy for beluga is used loosely here, lol), mostly vocalizations and husbandry. Klondike did some decent behaviors at the glass. Did not see Allua, assume she was in the back pool during this feeding session.
 
MidwestFan said:
SWC Update:
Saw Ferdinand and Klondike on exhibit on 12/6/2022. Ferdinand has a fairly large scrape on his melon, did not look new, and appeared to be healing. Hopefully continues to heal well, at his age, any issues are concerning. He doesn't really do any high energy behaviors (high energy for beluga is used loosely here, lol), mostly vocalizations and husbandry. Klondike did some decent behaviors at the glass. Did not see Allua, assume she was in the back pool during this feeding session.
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Do you think we’d see any imminent beluga transfers due to the unfortunate passings of Imaq and Mauyak? I’ve always thought Klondike should be in a pod where he has breeding opportunities instead of with the retirement pod at SWSD. Then again; it’s up to the SSP :)

Hopefully Ferdinand recovers well from his injury.
 
Aelita said:
Do you think we’d see any imminent beluga transfers due to the unfortunate passings of Imaq and Mauyak? I’ve always thought Klondike should be in a pod where he has breeding opportunities instead of with the retirement pod at SWSD.
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Probably. There seems to be some transfer activity in the spring typically. Unless a female at Georgia is pregnant, they will be seeking a male for breeding if Grayson is not interested.

Klondike, Oliver, and Nunavik are all possibilities. Will be interesting to see what the program decides!
 
At 15, Grayson *should* be old enough to sire offspring now, and he is unrelated to both Whisper and Shila (although Shila is still several years off from breeding, of course). Maple seems to be a non-breeder, unfortunately, and I’m uncertain if they’ll attempt to breed from Qinu again given her iffy reproductive history.

Something to consider as well, as Midwestfan alluded to, any of the females (but especially Whisper) could potentially be pregnant as well right now.
 
So are Shedd, Sea World San Antonio, and Georgia Aquarium the three breeding institutions for belugas at the moment?
 
TinoPup said:
The health and safety of the animals. Canada is also trying to be a country without cetaceans, and all of those animals need somewhere to go.
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I feel the need to clarify here, Canada overall is definitely not trying to be a country without cetaceans. A select group of people in the Senate, that unfortunately were heavily swayed by the anti-captivity lobbyists, did not want cetaceans to be in captivity in Canada, and as such got the bill pushed through, despite heavy opposition from the Vancouver aquarium, Marineland, and various others. Were it not for this bill, both facilities would still be actively exhibiting and breeding cetaceans. Moreover, Marineland is definitely going to hold on to the majority of their remaining animals as long as possible.

The inklings for the Beluga transfer started to take place well before the bill was passed, and had nothing to do with marineland “ wanting to get rid of Beluga‘s because of bill SB203”. However that said, Marineland was bursting at the seams for capacity, and was actively looking to send animals out, not because of anything to do with legality, but simply because they had reached and exceeded their holding capacity. As it stands, the park is now at a comfortable number of animals such that their filtration systems are no longer being stretched to their limits, and I highly doubt we will see many, if any, cetaceans leaving the facility now. It also worked in their favour as they got penguins in exchange for the Beluga‘s from Mystic.

Also as for why, overall it is a net gain for the US population, which is struggling, and hypothetically all of the animals they imported could’ve lived into their 50’s. Mystic hasn’t been a breeding facility for ages anyways, so if you’re going to go with nonbreeding animals, might as well have a group of eight instead of a group of three. That said though, also as mentioned, once the research permit is up, I suspect it will be highly likely they’ll start attempting to breed from them. They also aren’t able to publicly train the animals for any show/performance behaviours, until the permit is up.
 
Hyak_II said:
At 15, Grayson *should* be old enough to sire offspring now, and he is unrelated to both Whisper and Shila (although Shila is still several years off from breeding, of course). Maple seems to be a non-breeder, unfortunately, and I’m uncertain if they’ll attempt to breed from Qinu again given her iffy reproductive history.

Something to consider as well, as Midwestfan alluded to, any of the females (but especially Whisper) could potentially be pregnant as well right now.
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Last year there was a TikTok from one of GA’s staff; that did show Nunavik and Maple mating around early breeding season 2021. There’s more beluga content there as well.
When boy whale and girl whale get ‘friendly’ they make bubbles. #anima... | TikTok
 
2023 Population Update:

SWT (6.5)
Crissy F (est 1988)
Martha F (est 1988)
Naluark M (est 1986)
Luna F (b 07/24/2000)
Samson M (b 07/09/2013)
Kenai M (b 08/11/2016)
Innik M (b 08/17/2017)
Tyonek M (b 2017)
Atla F (b 06/23/2010)
Pearl F (b 06/23/2010)
Tulok M (b 07/25/2021)

SWF (2.0)
Oliver M (b 06/23/2007)
Nunavik M (b 12/14/2009)

SWC (2.1)
Ferdinand M (est 1970)
Allua F (est 1985)
Klondike M (b 07/13/2002)

Mystic (1.5)
Natasha F (est 1980)
Kelalukak F (est 1981)
Juno M (b 07/06/2002)
Jetta F (b 07/17/2014)
Kharabali F (b 07/20/2014)
Sahara F (b 07/23/2014)

Georgia (1.4)
Whisper F (b 07/25/1999)
Maple F (b 07/02/2005)
Qinu F (b 07/31/2008)
Shila F (b 05/17/2020)
Grayson M (b 06/26/2007)

Shedd (4.4)
Beethoven M (b 08/08/1992)
Naya F (est 1989)
Kayavak F (b 08/03/1999)
Aurek M (b 06/27/2003)
Bella F (b 07/17/2006)
Kimalu F (b 08/27/2012)
Annik M (b 07/03/2019)
Atlas M (b 08/21/2020)

Total US Population (35)
16.19
 
@MidwestFan I recently conducted a project to find information on all of Marineland's belugas. I started out by using CetaBase and then reached out to some fellow enthusiasts up North to fact check the data. After using these two resources and online searching, I have made a list of Marinelands belugas. The park currently houses 45 belugas, 16 males and 29 females. Here is the list in order of males first and then females, as this was easier to see their gender demographics.

1.0 Andre (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Barents Sea, Russia
1.0 Kodiak (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
1.0 Orion (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
1.0 Tofino (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
1.0 Tuktoyaktuk (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
1.0 Tank (Unknown x Acadia) 2011-09-30 at Marineland Canada
1.0 Frankie (Unknown x Sierra) 2012-06-11 at Marineland Canada
1.0 Xavier II (Unknown x Xena) 2012-06-24 at Marineland Canada
1.0 Bull (Andre or Kodiak x Sierra) 2016-07-15 at Marineland Canada
1.0 Cyprus (Andre or Kodiak x Cleopatra) 2016-00-00 at Marineland Canada
1.0 Jasper (Andre or Kodiak x Meeka) 2016-07-18 at Marineland Canada
1.0 Unknown (Unknown x Aurora) 2018-07-00-00 at Marineland Canada
1.0 Odin (Unknown x Osiris) 2018-07-00 at Marineland Canada
1.0 Unknown (Unknown x Secord) 2019-08-00 at Marineland Canada
1.0 Zephyr (Unknown x Rain) 2019-08-11 at Marineland Canada
1.0 Unknown (Unknown x Eve) 2019-09-00 at Marineland Canada
0.1 Gemini (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Xena (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Isis (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Caspian (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Cleopatra (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Jubilee Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Osiris (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Sierra (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Kelowna (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Peekachu (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Skyla (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Jelly Bean (Unknown x Jubilee) 2007-07-19 at MarineLand
0.1 Acadia (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Aurora (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Lillooet (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Meeka (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Rain (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Secord (Wild x Wild) 0000-00-00 in Sea of Okhotsk, Russia
0.1 Eve (Unknown x Xena) 2008-07-05 at Marineland Canada
0.1 Mira (Unknown x Oceanna) 2009-07-13 at Marineland Canada
0.1 Neva (Unknown x Cleopatra) 2009-07-23 at Marineland Canada
0.1 Qila (Unknown x Isis) 2010-06-06 at Marineland Canada
0.1 Ruby (Tuk x Meeka) 2013-07-00 at Marineland Canada
0.1 Ivy (Unknown x Rose) 2014-07-21 at Marineland Canada
0.1 Nahanni (Unknown x Lillooet) 2015-07-21 at Marineland Canada
0.1 Balor (Andre or Kodiak x Peekachu) 2016-07-21 at Marineland Canada
0.1 Eos (Tuk x Eve) 2017-09-27 at Marineland Canada
0.1 Unknown (Unknown x Gemini) 2018-07-04 at Marineland Canada
0.1 Bertie (Unknown x Jelly Bean) 2019-00-00 at Marineland Canada
 
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