Animal Advocates Watchdog

Vancouver Aquarium's baby beluga Nala dies *PIC*

Vancouver Aquarium's baby beluga Nala dies; penny, rocks found lodged near airway

By Tiffany Crawford, Vancouver SunJune 22, 2010

VANCOUVER -- Nala, Vancouver's much loved baby beluga, died Monday evening after its airway became blocked, the Vancouver Aquarium announced Tuesday.

Baby Nala was born June 7, 2009 to huge public fanfare and died just two weeks after her first birthday in the tank at the Vancouver Aquarium at around 10:15 p.m.

Aquarium veterinarian Dr. Martin Haulena said a necropsy on Nala showed she had a "unique pocket" located off her airway that contained a couple of rocks and a penny.

The pocket had become inflamed resulting in obstruction to Nala's airway, he said, which led to an accumulation of fluid in her lungs.

Haulena said staff members are still trying to figure out whether the pocket was the result of a congenital defect or caused by the inhalation of the foreign objects.

"A very, very strange finding, one that we certainly did not suspect," he said. "I'm still racking my brain to try to figure out what we could have done about it," he said, at a news conference Tuesday, in front of the Beluga tank where Nala had died just several hours before.

The rocks are a normal part of the pool environment, although staff still aren't sure how the penny got in the tank.

Animals take in small particles all the time, he said, but it very unusual to find them in an airway passage.

Behind Haulena in the pool Tuesday, swam three Beluga whales, including, Tiqa, Quila and 23-year-old Aurora, the mother of baby Nala. Two other belugas were in another tank. There are now five belugas at the aquarium.

Nala had suffered a bout of illness which had lasted about 10 to 14 days. After taking blood samples, staff had treated her with medication for a suspected infection.

Her health seemed to improve Friday and by the weekend she was playing with the other whales.

Though Nala's health suddenly took a turn for the worse Monday and she had been put under 24-hour watch by staff and volunteers. On Monday night, staff knew by the monitors that something was wrong, said Haulena.

He said they rushed outside but Nala died just as they reached the water.

It's the second Beluga death in five years at the aquarium. Another beluga born to Aurora called Tuvaq, died in 2005 at the age of three.

Haulena said he did not believe the deaths had anything to do with the stress of being in captivity.

"If it is a congenital defect it is going to happen to any animal, if it was rocks it is going to happen to any animal anywhere ... so I can't see a connection. Obviously the penny is a little concerning and we are going to try to figure out where that came from," he said.

Although no signs were posted at the Beluga tank Tuesday, staff said usually there are many signs around the aquarium warning people not to throw items in the tank.

In 2002, a Pacific white-sided dolphin called Whitewings died of respiratory failure when staff tried to remove objects such as stones, pine cones and seashells from her stomach.

At the time, the aquarium said the seashells inside Whitewings probably came from birds, the pine cones and twigs from trees, and the stones were probably thrown into the pool by people.

A Vancouver-based animal advocacy group said eating debris is a sign of neurotic behaviour in whales and dolphins, caused by living in captivity and that Nala's death was another example.

"It truly is a another sad day with yet another death at the Vancouver Aquarium," said Annelise Sorg, a spokeswoman for the Coalition For No Whales in Captivity.

"If you put a person in confinement and had just four walls and someone only visited a few times a day that person would go crazy. It took Nala only a year to go crazy. Eating debris shows us they are not happy living in a concrete bathtub in a puddle in the park."

She also said it is common for people to throw coins into the pool as though it was a wishing well.

The coalition is calling on city council to add a referendum to the ballot in next year's civic election asking Vancouverites "should the aquarium continue importing and breeding whales and dolphins in captivity?"

She believes a majority of people in Vancouver would answer "no."

ticrawford@vancouversun.com
http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Vancouver+Aquarium+baby+beluga+Nala+dies+after+penny+rocks+lodge+airway/3186557/story.html

Nala, a baby beluga born to Aurora at the Vancouver Aquarium last June, died Monday night.
Photograph by: Handout, Vancouver Aquarium

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