Young beluga whale dies at Vancouver's aquarium

CTV.ca News Staff

Tuvaq the beluga whale, one of the most popular attractions at the Vancouver Aquarium, died suddenly on Sunday.

The young whale was just three days shy of his third birthday.

Aquarium staff could be seen weeping after the news.

CTV News Vancouver's Hazel MacClement said, "There are only five belugas left swimming in the pool, and I must say they look a little bit forlorn."

Dr. Dave Huff, the aquarium's veterinarian, said: "When he passed away in the main pool, his mother Aurora was right beside him, touching him," as was his aunt.

"We let them stay with him as long as they wanted."

Staff gave Tuvaq a routine blood test at 10 a.m. local time. Twenty minutes later, staff saw him swimming irregularly -- and then the unthinkable happened.

"He had been just absolutely normal up until this point," said Dr. Dave Huff, the aquarium's veterinarian.

"I guess it would be analogous to a fit, healthy 24-year-old dropping dead. It's a catastrophic thing and not an illness."

Born at the aquarium on July 20, 2002, the aquarium held a party on his first birthday. Staff said Tuvaq's odds of survival were good.

A crane lifted Tuvaq's body from the pool -- in full view of onlooking children, which had some parents muttering there could have been a better time to do it.

A group opposed to whales in captivity said this latest incident just proves their point -- whales shouldn't be kept in aquariums.

"Five baby whales have died at the aquarium," said Kelly Bunting of No Whales in Captivity. "It is cruel to keep whales in captivity. It is cruel to breed whales in captivity."

Those deaths occurred over a 30-year span. The last baby beluga died in 1977.

Bunting's group wants a civic referendum in the next municipal election on whether whale tanks should be maintained at the aquarium.

The aquarium said death is a part of life -- whether it's in the wild or in captivity. In the wild, a beluga can expect to live up to 50 years.

An necropsy is to be performed on Tuvaq. The results will be known later this week.

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With a report from CTV's Hazel MacClement

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Annelise Sorg
COALITION FOR NO WHALES IN CAPTIVITY
Vancouver, Canada