And Then There Were Two

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA
December 13th 2023

MYSTIC, Conn. – A third beluga whale in the group of five imported from Ontario, Canada in 2021 has died at Mystic Aquarium. In an announcement Tuesday, the aquarium stated that nine-year-old Kharabali had begun showing signs of illness in November. She was moved to the aquarium’s intensive care area where she died on Monday.

“Kharabali is the third whale from Marineland to pass away after arriving at Mystic Aquarium,” the aquarium stated in the press release. “Havok, who passed in August of 2021, and Havana, who passed in February of 2022, both were found to have underlying incurable conditions which led to their deaths that were unable to be diagnosed while alive.”

A fourth whale of the five imported from Marineland also fell ill. The young female, “Jetta,” recovered and joined the general population.

Were the Whales Sick When They Left Canada?

The Animal Welfare Institute, (AWI) an advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., opposed the importation of the whales and raised questions regarding their health before they left the Canadian facility.

In fact, Mystic Aquarium requested, and received permission from the National Marine Fisheries Service, to substitute three of the whales, who were believed to be sick, with healthy belugas. All five whales imported by the aquarium were born in captivity.

In a press release responding to the death of Kharabali, Dr. Naomi Rose, AWI’s senior scientist in marine biology, stated,

“AWI is deeply saddened to learn of Kharabali’s death. From the beginning, we have opposed Mystic’s request to import these five belugas, citing legal, policy and welfare implications. These whales were supposed to be healthy prior to transport, but it is likely that all had pre-existing conditions.”

Rose said the whales, all of which showed signs of illness in Canada, should not have been subjected to the additional stress of transport to the United States.

“Unless and until they were fully healthy, they shouldn’t have been imported,” she said in a separate interview Monday. “It’s never wise to transport sick whales. It’s stressful enough for them when they’re healthy. When they’re dealing with some sort of health issues, it’s extremely risky to move them, and the only time you do it is when not moving them is going to kill them.”

The import permit was issued for eight research projects that the aquarium had proposed.

“One of those projects was disallowed, because, … they prohibited breeding them and one of those projects was about reproduction,” Rose said.

The remaining seven projects were approved, but the research was suspended when Havok died. Then, in Feb. 2022, a second whale, Havana, died.

“They had not been doing any research, because they were not allowed to,” Rose said. “They were told by National Marine Fisheries Service to suspend their research until this was resolved.  Now that Jetta has recovered, I think they were considering lifting the suspension, but now, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Critical Violations

Following an inspection in Sept. 2021 by the United States Department of Agriculture, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the Animal Welfare Act, the Sea Research Foundation, the research arm of the Mystic Aquarium was cited for three “critical violations.”

The first was the lack of veterinary care for Havok, as he was dying and in obvious distress. The USDA report states that aquarium personnel observed Havok as he suffered but did not call in a veterinarian until he had died.

The second incident also involved Havok, who had poor eyesight, and injured himself when he swam into a closed gate that separates the aquarium’s pools.

The third critical violation pertained to the conditions of the pools, which, the USDA stated, were not adequately maintained, and also contributed to Havok’s injuries.

Problems at Marineland

Marineland has been the target, not only of animal welfare groups, but Canadian and Ontario government regulators as well, who have found the facility lacking on many levels and have even filed charges of animal cruelty.

The facility was also home to Kiska, an orca who, until she died last March, floated listlessly and alone in a small, dark tank.

The Mystic Aquarium press release about Kharabali includes effusive praise from Marineland.

"We cannot thank Mystic Aquarium enough,” Marineland wrote. “They provide exceptional care for beluga whales, and despite being amid the challenges of COVID-19, in May 2021, Mystic Aquarium took these five whales on for us to provide the world-class care and expertise they needed. This collaboration underscores the global community's shared responsibility for animal welfare. Marineland is deeply thankful for Mystic Aquarium's professionalism and tireless efforts in safeguarding the health and happiness of these beloved marine creatures."

It is questionable whether four of five whales becoming sick and three of them dying, qualifies as “world class care.” If the zoo and aquarium community is, as it claims, committed to animal welfare, Rose urged its members to work together to help improve conditions at Marineland.

“Our message has always been the same, consistent and persistent, that the industry is its brother’s keeper,” she said. “They should go up there with their expertise – they’ve got all the expertise – they know how to take care of these animals in captivity, they keep telling us, they have the veterinarians. They need to go up there themselves and help Marineland. It is not our responsibility, even. First of all, we don’t have the expertise, but even if we did, are we going to take our members’ money and spend it on something the industry should be doing? Certainly, we’ve been very consistent in what we’ve been asking the industry to do, but the industry’s been blowing us off.”

Last week, as Kharabali was dying in one of its tanks, the aquarium was basking in the glow of favorable publicity on the release of a seal that was rehabilitated at the facility.

Rose wishes aquariums would stick to helping seals.

“That is the only thing the public display industry does that I find any common ground with,” she said. “The fact that they rescue and rehabilitate animals is the only thing that I approve of.”