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Rescued belugas have arrived in Chicago. The move is unprecedented — and controversial

First publishedJul 22, 10:30 UTC
Last updatedJul 23, 09:01 UTC · 1m ago
11 outletChicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times6Rescued belugas have arrived in Chicago. The move is unprecedented — and controversialOpen ↗
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<p>In special steel containers marked “live animals, this side up,” the mammoth sea creatures arrived in Chicago in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday.</p><p>It was the first phase of a beluga whale rescue mission Shedd Aquarium staff call “urgent” and “unprecedented.”</p><p>Lori Marino, an animal rights advocate, says it never should have come to this.</p><p>She and others like her envisioned the belugas making their home in a cordoned-off cove along Nova Scotia’s northeastern shore.</p><p>“It’s the best possible solution. Even though it’s still captivity, we are giving them back as much as we possibly can — what was taken from them in the entertainment industry,” said Marino, co-founder and president of the planned $15 million Whale Sanctuary Project in Port Hilford Bay, Nova Scotia.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="Enhancement-item" data-crop=""> <figure class="Figure"><a class="AnchorLink" id="image-f90000" name="image-f90000"></a> <picture data-crop="medium"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/de714cf/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+131/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fff%2F12%2Fdf011b4e43fd8c92d972fa7ddd43%2Fbeluga-rescue-821a3554.png 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/23b2fcd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+131/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fff%2F12%2Fdf011b4e43fd8c92d972fa7ddd43%2Fbeluga-rescue-821a3554.png 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/114d6dd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+131/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fff%2F12%2Fdf011b4e43fd8c92d972fa7ddd43%2Fbeluga-rescue-821a3554.png" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="Belugas arrive at Shedd Aquarium on Tuesday, July 21, 2026.

Reported by 1 outlet — Chicago Sun-Times. See all sources ↓

<p>In special steel containers marked “live animals, this side up,” the mammoth sea creatures arrived in Chicago in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday.</p><p>It was the first phase of a beluga whale rescue mission Shedd Aquarium staff call “urgent” and “unprecedented.”</p><p>Lori Marino, an animal rights advocate, says it never should have come to this.</p><p>She and others like her envisioned the belugas making their home in a cordoned-off cove along Nova Scotia’s northeastern shore.</p><p>“It’s the best possible solution. Even though it’s still captivity, we are giving them back as much as we possibly can — what was taken from them in the entertainment industry,” said Marino, co-founder and president of the planned $15 million Whale Sanctuary Project in Port Hilford Bay, Nova Scotia.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="Enhancement-item" data-crop=""> <figure class="Figure"><a class="AnchorLink" id="image-f90000" name="image-f90000"></a> <picture data-crop="medium"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/de714cf/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+131/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fff%2F12%2Fdf011b4e43fd8c92d972fa7ddd43%2Fbeluga-rescue-821a3554.png 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/23b2fcd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+131/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fff%2F12%2Fdf011b4e43fd8c92d972fa7ddd43%2Fbeluga-rescue-821a3554.png 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/114d6dd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+131/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fff%2F12%2Fdf011b4e43fd8c92d972fa7ddd43%2Fbeluga-rescue-821a3554.png" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="Belugas arrive at Shedd Aquarium on Tuesday, July 21, 2026. " srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/114d6dd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+131/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fff%2F12%2Fdf011b4e43fd8c92d972fa7ddd43%2Fbeluga-rescue-821a3554.png 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/014e36b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+131/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fff%2F12%2Fdf011b4e43fd8c92d972fa7ddd43%2Fbeluga-rescue-821a3554.png 2x" width="490" height="275" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/114d6dd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+131/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fff%2F12%2Fdf011b4e43fd8c92d972fa7ddd43%2Fbeluga-rescue-821a3554.png" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> <div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Four belugas, all female, arrived Tuesday morning at Shedd Aquarium.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>©Shedd Aquarium/Heidi Zeiger</p></div></div> </figure> </div> </div><p>Instead, four of the 30 belugas at the shuttered Marineland aquatic park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, were settling in at Shedd Tuesday. Named Acadia, Lillooet, Osiris and Sierra, the Chicago belugas are all females.

Read the full report at Chicago Sun-Times ↗

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<p>In special steel containers marked “live animals, this side up,” the mammoth sea creatures arrived in Chicago in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday.</p><p>It was the first phase of a beluga whale rescue mission Shedd Aquarium staff call “urgent” and “unprecedented.”</p><p>Lori Marino, an animal rights advocate, says it never should have come to this.</p><p>She and others like her envisioned the belugas making their home in a cordoned-off cove along Nova Scotia’s northeastern shore.</p><p>“It’s the best possible solution. Even though it’s still captivity, we are giving them back as much as we possibly can — what was taken from them in the entertainment industry,” said Marino, co-founder and president of the planned $15 million Whale Sanctuary Project in Port Hilford Bay, Nova Scotia.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="Enhancement-item" data-crop=""> <figure class="Figure"><a class="AnchorLink" id="image-f90000" name="image-f90000"></a> <picture data-crop="medium"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/de714cf/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+131/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fff%2F12%2Fdf011b4e43fd8c92d972fa7ddd43%2Fbeluga-rescue-821a3554.png 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/23b2fcd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+131/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fff%2F12%2Fdf011b4e43fd8c92d972fa7ddd43%2Fbeluga-rescue-821a3554.png 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/114d6dd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1403+0+131/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fff%2F12%2Fdf011b4e43fd8c92d972fa7ddd43%2Fbeluga-rescue-821a3554.png" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="Belugas arrive at Shedd Aquarium on Tuesday, July 21, 2026.
How widely is it covered?
1 outlet, average source rating 6.0/10.
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1m ago.
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    Rescued belugas have arrived in Chicago. The move is unprecedented — and controversial

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organizationChicagoorganizationChicago. TheorganizationEvenorganizationLori MarinoorganizationNova ScotiaorganizationRescuedorganizationSheorganizationShedd Aquarium
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