Six of thirty marineland belugas airlifted to safe ecosystem

Marineland of Canada, a shuttered marine park outside Niagara Falls, Ontario, has been in financial crisis and is no longer able to continue caring for its 30 beluga whales. Over the past several months, a consortium of aquariums came together to plan an extensive rescue effort to rehome all of them. Mystic Aquarium isn't taking in any whales itself, but is providing additional capacity and support to the effort. After months of planning and permit applications, Canadian and U.S. authorities granted the approvals needed to begin the rescue.

The first phase of that rescue is now complete. Six beluga whales have safely reached their new homes in the United States, in a move that leaned on a chain of specialized logistics partners spanning trucking, air cargo and ground handling.

The official distribution plan for the 30 Marineland belugas spans five facilities across the United States and Spain. SeaWorld San Antonio in Texas is set to receive the largest share, 13 whales in total, of which two, Frankie and Bertie Botts, have already arrived, with the remaining 11 pending travel clearance. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago is taking in 10 whales, four of which, Acadia, Osiris, Sierra and Lillooet, have arrived, with six still pending clearance. Oceanogràfic València in Spain is expected to receive two whales, though none have arrived yet as the facility awaits transport arrangements and European regulatory clearances. Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and SeaWorld San Diego in California will each receive a share of the remaining whales, though the exact numbers for both are still to be finalized. In total, the rescued pod numbers 30 whales, of which six have been successfully relocated so far, leaving 24 still at Marineland.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued an emergency authorization for 28 of the whales to enter the country. SeaWorld San Antonio and Shedd Aquarium are taking the largest shares of the population, a decision made in part to keep existing social sub-pods together. The split of the remaining whales between San Diego and Georgia Aquarium is still being determined, based on ongoing medical evaluations of individual whales.

On moving day, teams from Marineland, Shedd Aquarium and other marine mammal experts partially drained one of the park's pools, guided each whale into a cloth sling, and lifted them into water-filled steel transport containers. Those containers were loaded onto trucks and driven to Toronto Pearson International Airport for the next leg of the journey.

Toronto Pearson's operator, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, later reflected on its role in the move, noting the airport connects people and goods every day, and that this time it helped move some very precious cargo. The authority said it was proud to support the first phase of the rescue and relocation effort, with the whales accompanied by dedicated veterinary and animal care teams as they headed to their new homes.

The long-haul portion of the trip was flown by Qatar Airways Cargo, using a Boeing 777 freighter. All six whales traveled together on the same aircraft. The flight departed Toronto late Monday night, landing first at Chicago O'Hare International Airport in the early hours of Tuesday morning, where the four females were unloaded. The aircraft then continued on to San Antonio with the two male whales still aboard.

Shedd Aquarium's vice president of animal health, Dr. Karisa Tang, flew aboard the aircraft with the whales and later described the roughly hour-long Toronto-to-Chicago leg as smooth, with no turbulence. Onboard staff continuously ladled water over the whales' exposed skin and monitored their breathing and behavior throughout the flight; pilots adjusted their flying technique to avoid steep takeoffs and landings that could stress the animals. The heaviest of the whales on the Chicago-bound portion of the flight weighed roughly 2,400 pounds.

At Chicago O'Hare, ground-handling support for the final leg of the journey was provided by Worldwide Flight Services (WFS). In a LinkedIn post, the company's Chicago (ORD) team described handling the arrival as out of the ordinary work, framing it as part of a broader, multi-institution rescue effort moving the Marineland pod to permanent homes across North America and Europe under the coordination of AZA-accredited aquariums. WFS said its team supported the final leg of the journey in partnership with Qatar Airways and Shedd Aquarium, positioning the operation alongside the kind of complex, time-sensitive handling live animals, pharma, and perishables that its stations are built to manage.

Shedd Aquarium confirmed in a press release that the four female whales arrived safely into the Abbott Oceanarium's cool saltwater habitats, calling it the first successful step in a coordinated international effort to save the Marineland belugas. The whales were accompanied throughout by veterinarians specializing in marine mammal medicine and animal care specialists.

The four were deliberately kept together as a "sub-pod," selected in part because of their existing social bonds, an important factor for a highly social species during a stressful transition. As of this week, they remain separated from Shedd's other eight resident belugas behind gated sections of the 3-million-gallon Oceanarium, with caretakers gradually introducing new routines, habitats and food. Early signs have been encouraging: aquarium staff report the whales foraging, exploring their new habitat and engaging with one another. The whales were also given calming medication hidden in raw fish ahead of the move, similar to anti-anxiety medication given to pets during stressful events.

Shedd said it remains committed to providing lifelong care for up to 10 beluga whales as part of the broader rescue effort.

The two male whales, Bertie Botts and Frankie, arrived safely at SeaWorld San Antonio, where a dedicated zoological and veterinary team met the aircraft to unload the whales and transport them by road convoy to the park's quarantine pools. SeaWorld confirmed the whales are adjusting well and are being closely monitored as part of their acclimation process.

According to Marineland's legal counsel, the goal is to have all remaining whales relocated by the end of August, though officials have not committed to a fixed timeline for individual transfers, saying decisions will be based on each animal's needs.

For now, the operation stands out as a rare example of coordinated air cargo, ground handling and specialized veterinary logistics being deployed at short notice for a live-animal rescue of this scale and complexity.