Two whales die in Chicago aquarium after moves, including one from Marineland

TORONTO — Two more whales have died at a Chicago aquarium, including one that recently moved there as part of the massive undertaking to relocate 30 belugas and four dolphins from Marineland.

The whales died Wednesday afternoon despite “immediate efforts by animal care and veterinary teams to provide lifesaving measures,” Shedd Aquarium said in a news release.

Rain, a 20 year-old beluga, arrived at Shedd in mid-August after being moved out of the closed tourist attraction in Niagara Falls, Ont.

Beethoven, a 34-year-old beluga that had lived decades in Chicago, was the other whale to die.

“These losses are hard, made more difficult by the fact that it will take time to get concrete answers about what led to their passings,” Shedd said in a statement.

“Necropsies, blood tests and additional exams are underway to help better understand what happened.”

Marineland said it was “deeply saddened” to learn of Rain’s death.

“Our thoughts are with the trainers and staff who loved and supported Rain.”

Marineland, along with Shedd and several other aquariums, recently completed an unprecedented relocation of captive whales after shipping 30 belugas and four dolphins to five destinations.

Another Marineland beluga, Peekachu, died last week at Shedd after it became severely dehydrated. An investigation into Peekachu’s death remains ongoing.

The animals were the last captive whales and dolphins in Canada after the federal government banned the practice in 2019, but granted an exception for Marineland.

Marineland is up for sale and sources say a deal is in place for the land so long as the animals are gone. Several hundred deer still remain at the park.

Marineland closed to the public in 2024. Its founder, John Holer, died in 2018 and his widow, Marie Holer, died not long after the park closed for good.

The park has said it was running out of money and had to get its animals out.

The federal government blocked a previous plan to move the whales to an aquarium in China, which prompted Marineland to threaten to euthanize the animals if it did not get an emergency cash infusion.

Marineland turned to a consortium of aquariums abroad.

The whales and dolphins have moved to Shedd, SeaWorld locations in San Diego and San Antonio, Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and Oceanografic Valencia in Spain.

The whales were given a clean bill of health in the days before each move, with Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson responsible for giving the final approval before each of the six moves.

Nineteen belugas, one killer whale and one dolphin died at Marineland between 2019 and 2025.

In 2021, Marineland moved five whales to Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut.

Two of those whales died within a year of the move and the third died two years after the transfer. Mystic said the whales had pre-existing conditions while Marineland said they were healthy when they left.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 2, 2026.

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press