Two belugas have died at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, including one that recently moved there from Marineland, where 30 belugas and four dolphins were relocated to five destinations as part of a massive undertaking. The deceased whales were Rain, a 20-year-old beluga who arrived at Shedd in mid-August, and Beethoven, a 34-year-old beluga who had lived decades in Chicago. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of their deaths, with necropsies and blood tests being conducted. This marks the second death of a Marineland whale at Shedd, following the death of another beluga, Peekachu, last week.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-03,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Two 20-year-old beluga whales, Rain and Beethoven, have died at the *Shedd Aquarium* in Chicago. Rain had recently been relocated to Shedd from the now-closed theme park *Marineland* in Ontario, Canada, where she was one of eight belugas rescued by the aquarium over the summer as part of a massive undertaking to relocate 30 beluga whales and four dolphins. Beethoven, on the other hand, had lived at Shedd for over three decades and was the second-largest beluga at the aquarium, weighing 1,900 pounds. The deaths occurred despite efforts by animal care and veterinary teams to provide lifesaving measures, and necropsies are being conducted to determine the cause of death. This is the third beluga whale to die at Shedd in recent weeks, following the unexpected death of Peekachu, a 22-year-old female beluga, on August 25.
Written for “Beluga Whale Deaths in Chicago” on 2026-09-03,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 3540 · logged 2026-09-03
Two more whales have died at a Chicago aquarium, including one that recently moved there as part of the massive undertaking to relocate 30 belugas and four dolphins from Marineland.
asserted
that → die → Marineland
The whales died Wednesday afternoon despite “immediate efforts by animal care and veterinary teams to provide lifesaving measures,” Shedd Aquarium said in a news release.
asserted
Aquarium → die → release
Rain, a 20 year-old beluga, arrived at Shedd in mid-August after being moved out of the closed tourist attraction in Niagara Falls, Ont.
asserted
Rain → arrive → Falls
Beethoven, a 34-year-old beluga that had lived decades in Chicago, was the other whale to die.
asserted
that → live → Chicago
“These losses are hard, made more difficult by the fact that it will take time to get concrete answers about what led to their passings,” Shedd said in a statement.
asserted
Shedd → make → statement
“Necropsies, blood tests and additional exams are underway to help better understand what happened.”
asserted
what → help → ?
Marineland said it was “deeply saddened” to learn of Rain’s death.
asserted
it → say → death
Get breaking National news
“Our thoughts are with the trainers and staff who loved and supported Rain.”
asserted
who → get → Rain
Marineland, along with Shedd and several other aquariums, recently completed an unprecedented relocation of captive whales after shipping 30 belugas and four dolphins to five destinations.
asserted
Marineland → complete → destinations
Another Marineland beluga, Peekachu, died last week at Shedd after it became severely dehydrated.
asserted
it → die → Shedd
An investigation into Peekachu’s death remains ongoing.
asserted
investigation → remain → death
The animals were the last captive whales and dolphins in Canada after the federal government banned the practice in 2019, but granted an exception for Marineland.
asserted
government → ban → Marineland
Marineland is up for sale and sources say a deal is in place for the land so long as the animals are gone.
asserted
animals → say → land
Several hundred deer still remain at the park.
asserted
deer → remain → park
Marineland closed to the public in 2024.
asserted
Marineland → close → 2024
Its founder, John Holer, died in 2018 and his widow, Marie Holer, died not long after the park closed for good.
asserted
park → die → 2018
The park has said it was running out of money and had to get its animals out.
asserted
it → say → animals
The federal government blocked a previous plan to move the whales to an aquarium in China, which prompted Marineland to threaten to euthanize the animals if it did not get an emergency cash infusion.
asserted
it → block → infusion
Marineland turned to a consortium of aquariums abroad.
asserted
Marineland → turn → aquariums
The whales and dolphins have moved to Shedd, SeaWorld locations in San Diego and San Antonio, Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and Oceanografic Valencia in Spain.
asserted
whales → move → Spain
The whales were given a clean bill of health in the days before each move, with Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson responsible for giving the final approval before each of the six moves.
asserted
Thompson → give → moves
Nineteen belugas, one killer whale and one dolphin died at Marineland between 2019 and 2025.
asserted
belugas → die → 2019
In 2021, Marineland moved five whales to Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut.
asserted
Marineland → move → Connecticut
Two of those whales died within a year of the move and the third died two years after the transfer.
asserted
third → die → transfer
Mystic said the whales had pre-existing conditions while Marineland said they were healthy when they left.
asserted
they → say → conditions
