One of the Vancouver Aquarium’s male belugas, on loan for breeding purposes to SeaWorld Orlando, has died.
Nanuq, estimated to be in his early 30s, died yesterday and the exact cause of death is not known. Results from a post-mortem exam will not be known until six to eight weeks. Nanuq had been receiving treatment for an infection related to a broken jaw he received interacting with other captive cetaceans. He lived with three other whales -- one male and two females -- in the Wild Arctic habitat.
SeaWorld has been at the centre of ongoing controversy since the release of the film Blackfish that is highly critical of the tourist attraction.
Nanuq was the father of Qila, a female beluga born at the Vancouver Aquarium to mother Aurora in 1995, the first beluga to be conceived and born in a Canadian aquarium.
More details to come.
