Marineland’s rescued whales: six belugas and a dolphin have died since the largest whale transfer ever

It was billed as “the largest marine mammal rescue and transport in history” by the receiving aquariums: 30 belugas and four dolphins airlifted and trucked out of the shuttered Marineland near Niagara Falls to new homes in the United States and Spain. Six of the belugas – and one dolphin – have since died.

The transfers capped the end of Canada’s most infamous marine park, which closed in 2024 after years of animal-welfare controversy. After Ottawa rejected Marineland’s plan to sell the whales to China, a consortium of aquariums stepped in – moving whales to Chicago, Atlanta, San Diego, San Antonio and Valencia. Tofino, the last captive whale in Canada, left to SeaWorld San Antonio in a moment photographers described as a farewell.

The losses – and what the necropsies found

Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium has had the hardest toll: rescued belugas Peekachu (23), Rain (20), Osiris (26) and Caspian (27) died there, along with longtime Shedd resident Beethoven (34). Necropsies point to longstanding illness – chronic intestinal inflammation, liver disease, and foreign objects including rocks and flecks that appeared to be paint, which Shedd believes were ingested before the move, according to preliminary necropsy findings. In Spain, Oceanogràfic València lost beluga Jelly Bean and dolphin Echo. On the night of October 18, a sixth beluga, Cyprus, died at SeaWorld San Diego weeks after arriving – SeaWorld described the death as unexpected.

Animal-rights groups say the deaths prove the whales were too sick to transport: “Marineland had years to plan for their retirement to a sanctuary, but failed to do so,” Animal Justice’s Camille Labchuk said. The aquariums counter that the animals were facing euthanasia at a closing park and that survivors are eating well and progressing.

What’s next

Advocates are pushing the Whale Sanctuary Project in Nova Scotia – a seaside retirement bay that has begun construction but still needs a further C$6 million by the project’s own accounting – as the model for the roughly 3,600 cetaceans still in captivity worldwide, a figure cited by World Animal Protection. Canada banned whale captivity and breeding in 2019; what happened after Marineland shows how hard the aftermath is. More in Weather & Environment.

Update – October 25, 2026: A sixth beluga, Cyprus, a 9-year-old male, died at SeaWorld San Diego on the night of October 18, 2026, weeks after arriving from Marineland; SeaWorld described the death as unexpected. Six of the 30 relocated belugas and the dolphin Echo have now died. This story has also been updated to attribute the scale of the rescue to the receiving aquariums and to clarify that Ottawa rejected Marineland’s plan to sell the whales to China.