Canada · 19 d ago
Sheila Sund · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Two Marineland animals that died in Spain may have been ill before they left
Oceanogràfic, Valencia
Spain
Jelly Bean, a 19-year-old female beluga, and Echo, a female Black Sea bottlenose dolphin, arrived at the Oceanogràfic aquarium in Valencia, Spain, on Aug 27. Both died less than a month later.
What Jelly Bean's necropsy found
- Heart anomalies
- Thyroid gland dysfunction
- Adrenal gland dysfunction
- Electrolyte imbalance
A preliminary necropsy found Jelly Bean had heart anomalies, thyroid and adrenal gland dysfunction, and signs of metabolic disorders before she died on Sep 18. The aquarium says the problems may have begun before the transfer and gone undetected in pre-trip exams.
Echo's diagnosis
toxoplasmosis
Echo arrived with severe visual impairment and reduced mobility in one fin, and tests found brain and nerve inflammation consistent with toxoplasmosis. Experts are working to find the source of the parasitic infection.
Marineland
Healthy when they left
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Some had chronic problems
Marineland had said all the whales it transferred over the summer were healthy when they left Niagara Falls, and did not respond to the necropsy results. Fisheries and Oceans Canada says some of the whales had chronic health problems from their time at Marineland.
"We all knew the Marineland whales were sick," said Naomi Rose, a marine mammal specialist at the Animal Welfare Institute, who warns that more deaths may come in the next few months.
— Naomi Rose, Animal Welfare Institute
