STONINGTON, Conn. — Five Beluga whales have arrived at their new home at Mystic Aquarium after an extensive legal battle over importing them from Canada. The Belugas arrived at Mystic Aquarium early Saturday from Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Government officials from Fisheries and Oceans Canada last month approved the export, seven months after U.S. approval. Animal activists sought to block the transport in a lawsuit against the U.S. Commerce secretary and National Marine Fisheries Service, which had approved the research permit. A federal judge declined to issue an injunction.
In a press release, Mystic Aquarium said the whales were flown by a chartered cargo plane in two separate flights, then by ground convoy to the Aquarium in specially-designed containers on flatbed trucks. Each whale was harnessed and lifted out by crane one at a time before being carefully lowered into their new home, a 750,000-gallon outdoor habitat meant to simulate the Arctic environment.
The aquarium says the process took the teamwork of dozens of staff members, including veterinarians and animal care specialists that monitored the whales throughout the journey. The entire transport took over 22 hours from start to finish and wrapped up at 4:50 am Saturday morning when the final whale was lowered safely into the water.
The names of the five whales are:
Havana, a female weighing 924 pounds and 10’4” long
Jetta, a female weighing 762 pounds and 10’3” long
Kharabali, a female, weighing 818 pounds and 10’8” long
Sahara, a female weighing 1,028 pounds and 11’4”
Havok weighing 1,192 pounds and 11’1”