Relocation plan will move 30 whales and four dolphins from Marineland
Four beluga whales transported from Marineland, a shuttered theme park near Niagara Falls, Ontario, arrived at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium on August 14, 2026, under a Canadian government-approved relocation plan to move Canada’s last captive whales to aquariums in the United States and Spain. The Associated Press, which described the arrangement as a rescue plan, reported the second set of arrivals that day.
The four whales, named Caspian, Peekachu, Rain and Secord, follow an initial four belugas that reached Shedd in July. The relocation plan covers a total of 30 whales and four dolphins from Marineland, in an arrangement that might have spared the animals from mass euthanasia, AP reported.
Marineland, which sits near Niagara Falls in Ontario, announced in early 2023 that it was for sale and closed to the public in late summer 2024. Twenty whales — 19 belugas and one killer whale — have died at the park since 2019, according to provincial government data obtained through freedom-of-information laws and official statements AP cited.
The remaining whales and four dolphins covered by the plan are to be transferred to facilities in the United States and Spain under the arrangement approved by the Canadian government.