The beautiful young white whale at Georgia Aquarium has recently died, apparently of gastro-intestinal problems. It death was confirmed on Friday, the 5th of June.
It does not come as a total surprise that the young whale died, as representatives of the aquarium had already announced that it was in “extremely guarded condition”. A few days before it died, the whale had completely stopped eating and was very lethargic.
The caregivers at the aquarium had to permanently provide assistance to the whale in order to enable it to swim.
Ever since it was born, baby beluga had been trying to gain weight and it could not do this in spite of the vets’ best efforts to give it caloric supplies. Ever since it was born, they had been trying to help the young animal feed better by giving it formula milk in addition to the milk it got from the mother-whale.
Apparently, the baby whale had intestinal issues that prevented it from completely absorbing the necessary nutrients.
It was born less than a month ago, on the 10th of May, and it marked the first time a whale was born of parents who were also bred in captivity, at Georgia Aquarium.
Representatives of the Georgia Aquarium expressed their deep sorrow related to the loss of such a rare baby whale. They reported it died around 7.00 a.m., next to the mother-whale, 20-year-old Maris and the staff of the aquarium, who put a lot of effort into saving it.
“Even though this calf had a short life, Georgia Aquarium had the rare opportunity to advance our knowledge about the reproductive health of beluga whales,” they stated.
An autopsy still needs to be carried out in order to establish the exact cause of death.
Until now, the Georgia Aquarium have been quite successful at breeding Belugas in their attempt to increase the number of this species. They have managed to rise this number to six members within the last five years.
Belugas are beautiful white whales who are famous for being extremely sociable. They are considered to be endangered species in various parts of the world.
Image Source: zooborns
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