A massive beluga relocation effort is finally underway.
Animal rescue teams began the complex operation Monday to move nearly three dozen beluga whales from the closed Marineland theme park in Canada to new facilities in the United States.
Images from Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario, showed the long-anticipated transfer appearing to proceed smoothly as crews worked through the delicate first phase.
Several of the striking white whales, sometimes called “sea canaries” and capable of weighing up to 3,500 pounds, were lifted from their habitat in large slings secured to a heavy-duty crane.
One beluga, Sierra, seemed unfazed by the commotion as she was carefully loaded onto a truck for the next leg of the journey.
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Sierra is expected to join Acadia, Osiris and Lilooet at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, CBC reported, while two other belugas, Bertie Botts and Frankie, are slated to fly to SeaWorld in San Antonio, Texas.
Canadian officials said Monday marked the start of relocation efforts for all 30 whales.
“The first wave of the rescue mission at Marineland is underway,” Canadian Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson said.
The whale’s home at Marineland had shuttered after the death of the zoo’s owners John Holer and Marie Holer in 2024, according to CBC.
Though staff continued to care for the sea creatures, the outlet reported the whales’ fate was in the balance for some time, with the belugas living under the threat of euthanasia if a suitable home wasn’t found.
But authorities in Canada came to agreements with the US and Spain over moving the whales earlier last month, saving the creatures’ lives and giving them a new home.
