One of eight Shedd Aquarium beluga whales recently rescued from a shuttered aquatic park in Canada has died, the aquarium announced Wednesday.Peekachu, a 23-year-old female beluga, arrived at Shedd with three others about two weeks ago.“In the days that followed the rescue, Peekachu showed early s igns of progress as she ate squid, herring and capelin from caretakers and checked out the care team from the underwater windows as they monitored the progress of the rescues,” Shedd said in a statement. “Yesterday, we got an opportunity to get blood samples from Peekachu, who was not consistently eating her full diet. When we looked at the blood values, we were concerned that she was dehydrated and needed supportive care. On Tuesday evening, as teams worked to provide her with medicine and fluids, Peekachu passed away suddenly.”The aquarium is planning a post-mortem to try to better understand Peekachu’s “overall health before she passed and what might have led to her death.”This is not the first time a Marineland beluga has died after being flown to a U.S. aquarium. Five belugas were transported to Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut from the Canadian aquatic park in May 2021. Three later died, including one just three months after arriving at Mystic, according to the Associated Press. All three belugas died from illnesses attributed to genetic health problems, Mystic Aquarium officials said at the time.Naomi A. Rose is a marine mammal scientist with the Washington D.C.-based Animal Welfare Institute. Rose and other animal rights activists are in the planning stages of creating a whale sanctuary, a cordoned-off cove along Nova Scotia’s northeastern shore. “Some of these belugas dying was an inevitability in this situation, given that they are not healthy,” Rose said of Peekachu’s death in an email to the Sun-Times. “But the likely underlying health issue — genetically-based storage disease — apparently is not uncommon in free-ranging belugas. A condition they can tolerate and cope with in the wild becomes a high risk, potentially deadly problem in captivity. So ultimately the fault lies with the practice of holding these species in captivity in the first place. We need to make this the last generation of cetaceans in captivity. The receiving facilities for the Marineland belugas must not breed these whales — as it stands, they are rescuing animals in need. Breed them, and it becomes exploitation.”Peekachu was part of a group of four belugas that arrived Aug. 13, joining four other beluga rescues that arrived from Marineland Canada July 21. In total, Shedd had expected to house 18 belugas, including the eight already living at the aquarium before the Marineland whales arrived and two more yet to come. That number is now down to 17. The Marineland belugas, a group of 30, had been living at the park, which has for years faced criticism that its animals were living in unsanitary conditions. The park closed to the public in 2024 and Marineland officials, citing extreme financial difficulties, had threatened to euthanize the whales if permanent homes couldn’t be found. Related Shedd Aquarium to receive four more beluga whales from Marineland Rescued belugas have arrived in Chicago. The move is unprecedented — and controversial When Shedd Aquarium’s first beluga whales came to Chicago ...read more read less