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One of The most important parts of taking an unprecedented international plane trip for four belugas Whales It is to ensure that they do not realize that they are on a trip. “The goal is for them to notice as little as possible,” says Carina Tang, chief veterinarian and vice president of animal health at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.
Tang and Charlie Jacobsma, director of animal behavior and training at SHD, accompanied the Acadia, Lillooet, Osiris and Sierra beluga whales on the journey from their Niagara Falls enclosures to Toronto’s Pearson Airport and on to Chicago. Two additional beluga whales joined the flight on a chartered Boeing 777 cargo plane but were then flown to the San Antonio Aquarium.
The whales lived in Marineland in Niagara Falls, a long-standing area of disrepute Aquarium and amusement park Which went bankrupt after the death of its owners and was closed to the public in 2024. As money ran out to care for the animals, the park was forced to close. I appealed previously Canadian government for assistance. In 2025, Marineland announced it had made the “devastating decision” to consider euthanasia if it could not transport the animals.
At that point, the aquatic and marine biologist more broadly was already debating what could be done; By January 2026, members of the rescue team were traveling to Ontario to evaluate how to transport the beluga whales. In June, Canada reached an agreement with Marineland to allow this relocation, whereby the animals could go to consortium aquariums in Georgia, San Diego and Spain, in addition to the whales already transferred to institutions in Chicago and Texas. It was an unprecedented mission. “People have transported beluga whales before,” Tang says. “But something of this magnitude has never been done.”
Everything went as smoothly as if the 1,000-pound-plus aquatic mammal could have traveled hundreds of miles: “Nice, nice, slow takeoff and nice, easy landing,” Jacobsma tells WIRED. The team was able to stay close to the whales and constantly monitor them, “pour water on their backs and make sure they were comfortable.”
A few days after the move, on a sunny Friday afternoon, visitors to Shedd’s Oceanarium section are greeted with signs pleading for calm. “Please keep the sounds down,” they read. “Help rescued beluga whales adjust to their new home.” WIRED took a peek at a secluded habitat, monitored around the clock by veterinarians and other marine life experts, where Acadia, Lillooet, Osiris and Sierra are currently being kept out of the public eye so new caretakers can focus on settling them in their new home.
