Baby Beluga Updates
JUNE 22, 2010
Nala, our youngest beluga whale, born June 7, 2009, died last night at approximately 10:15 pm. Nala was taken to the provincial animal health care centre where a full necropsy was performed. Vancouver Aquarium staff—particularly its animal care team—and volunteers are deeply saddened by this loss. We will post more information as it becomes available.
APRIL 30, 2010
Like all young ones, Nala is growing every single day. And Aquarium visitors who have been to the underwater beluga viewing gallery know it’s become a bit of a challenge to tell Nala and Tiqa, our two beluga calves, apart from one another due to Nala’s rate of growth since birth which makes almost the same size as Tiqa who is one year older.
In a beluga calf’s first year of life, physical and mental growth develops rapidly. Nala is continuously learning her behaviour directly from the adult belugas she lives with as well as Tiqa.
Lately, Nala and Tiqa have been observed by our marine mammal trainers to swim over – instead of under – a rock bridge in their habitat. The bridge surface rests nearly at the water surface so their behaviour causes them to bring themselves almost entirely out of the water before returning underneath once they’ve “crossed” the bridge.
Tiqa learned months ago that she could “beach” herself on the bridge, as well as slide off of it or go completely over it. Nala observed Tiqa’s behaviour for a few weeks and then tried it herself too! Although Nala’s initial attempts to cross the bridge were unsuccessful - she attempted to balance herself on one side while Tiqa instead balanced herself on her belly - Nala was eventually successful in carrying herself across the bridge.
It is natural for cetacean (whale, dolphin, and porpoise) calves to mimic each other’s behaviour in play, especially younger animals when they are with slightly older calves. This playful behaviour provides an interesting and educational experience for visitors to see first-hand here at the Vancouver Aquarium.
Nala is also learning a great deal from the Aquarium’s expert team of marine mammal trainers. She closely observes the activity of our trainers as they conduct their work. Nursing is still Nala’s primary source of nourishment although she is also now eating fish in increasing amounts based on her appetite and behaviour. Her training is reinforced through tactile rubs on her melon, tongue and flukes. Even the extra attention given by the approving hand clap of a trainer is positive reinforcement for Nala.
The Aquarium’s marine mammal team will focus most of Nala’s initial training on husbandry behaviours, which are behaviours that allow trainers and veterinarians to take better care of belugas during standard examinations, such as voluntary presentation of tail flukes during routine blood draws and open mouth examinations. Nala is showing her comfort with her trainers touching her back and tail fluke which indicates a great beginning for husbandry training.
FEBRUARY 24, 2010
Nala is still eating one small herring a day and continuing to rely on nursing as her primary means of nourishment. Our marine mammal trainers are currently working on basic training plans with Nala, such as using tactile tongue and fluke rubs as positive reinforcements. Nala is increasingly interactive with the enrichment items our trainers provide to her. She often watches Tiqa, the older beluga calf, interact with a new enrichment item before she approaches it.
JANUARY 16, 2010
Nala just ate her first fish! Our marine mammal trainers recently started offering Nala fish and will wait and see how Nala is processing solid food. She currently eats one small fish a day. Nala will still rely mainly on nursing as her primary means of nourishment. However, if Nala continues to handle the food well, our trainers plan to give her more fish in the future.
Nala is very curious and she continues to get along well with other belugas in her habitat. Everyday Nala is interacting more and more with the trainers during training sessions. She is constantly learning from our trainers as well as other belugas.
OCTOBER 15, 2009
She has started interacting with the trainers on a regular basis. We try to provide a dedicated trainer for each feeding session and she almost always interacts with her trainers. She is letting trainers give her tongue rubs, melon rubs, and back rubs.
Although our trainers haven’t started formal training of the beluga calf, every interaction she has with our trainers is a form of training – she is learning how to interact with them and has become very comfortable with trainers touching her. These interactions are the building blocks for all of our training. She is also learning that our trainers can be playful and offer positive reinforcement!
The baby beluga is enjoying her toys and uses her mouth to investigate her surroundings. She is still very interactive with the Aquarium’s other baby beluga, Tiqa, and continues to nurse well from her mother, Aurora.
She is growing every day. We don’t know exactly how much she weighs right now but when you visit her in person or watch her activities on the Aquarium’s beluga cam you can see she is very close in size to Tiqa these days!
JULY 17, 2009
The female beluga calf, born June 7, continues to do well. Her nursing and respirations are following expected trends. Her development is tracked and compared to behavioural research and statistics gathered at the Vancouver Aquarium from previous beluga births during the birth and post-birth periods of those whales.
A large percentage of this calf’s nursing events occur in a smaller area within the whale’s home in the Arctic Canada habitat.
We are seeing her continuing to become more interactive with the other calf, Tiqa (born June 10, 2008) and often attempting to interact with her during Tiqa’s training sessions.
The newborn calf’s mother, Aurora, continues to allow her young one to increase the amount of time she spends away from her mother’s side. Aurora shows comfort with allowing the calf to actively explore the habitat and increase the energy level of her play with Tiqa.
At this time the newborn calf is undergoing a molt, and you may see rub up alongside some areas in her habitat to remove the dead skin. This is a natural development and behaviour among beluga whale calves.
JUNE 12, 2009
Newborn calf gaining independence and getting to know Tiqa.
Marine mammal staff and volunteers at the Vancouver Aquarium continue to observe the female beluga calf born at 3:39 p.m., Sunday, June 7, 2009.
Nursing events between the calf and her mother Aurora continue to increase in frequency and duration. Today we are expecting to record 3000 seconds of nursing compared to yesterday’s record of 2000 seconds. Aurora’s calf is now nursing almost equally from both mammary glands whereas initially she nursed preferentially from the left mammary.
The 24-7 volunteer Beluga Observer team has seen a variety of interesting interactions and behaviours from the calf and the three belugas in her company.
Tiqa continues to test what kind of interactions Aurora will allow her to have with the new calf. She just turned one (year) and we’ve observed her swimming beside and chasing the calf in a playful manner. Aurora is allowing the two calves to swim together, but will intervene if Tiqa is too rough as she plays with the new calf. Aurora is teaching the calf how to swim and dive and the calf’s abilities are strong and positive, indicating Aurora’s attentiveness and care for her newborn.
The calf is becoming more active and is getting stronger. Her rate of respiration has decreased slightly as expected as the calf becomes a stronger swimmer. Aurora’s appetite is expected to increase significantly at any time as she is producing milk to feed her calf.
Underwater viewing is a special experience as it provides a rare opportunity to observe and gather data from a beluga calf in the very early days of her development – an opportunity not available to researchers in the wild. The data gathered on the growth and development of both calves, both physically and socially, contributes to the growing understanding of belugas that will lead to protecting them in the wild.
JUNE 10, 2009
Underwater viewing of beluga nursery opens to public today.
Today is also Tiqa’s first birthday. She is a female beluga calf born one year ago.
Starting today, Vancouver Aquarium marine mammal staff and volunteers welcome visitors to the underwater gallery to view the beluga nursery.
Underwater viewing is a special experience as it provides the opportunity to observe the beluga calf in the very early days of her development. Visitors will see the calf nursing from her mother and her improving ability to swim, dive and slipstream with Aurora. Aquarium Interpretive staff will provide fascinating insights on how the calf is interacting with the other belugas: Qila and one-year old Tiqa. Children and adults will get a rare opportunity to learn about the physical and social development of beluga calves −offering a unique connection to our natural world that is crucial in helping people understand how to conserve it.
Details:
• Underwater beluga nursery viewing will be open daily from 10 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.
• Groups of 30 will be permitted in the underwater gallery to observe the belugas from two different perspectives.
• The experience begins with a short video showing the birth of the beluga calf, followed by a presentation of the beluga family tree with tips on how to tell them apart.
• The introduction is followed by a viewing at the first window where an Aquarium interpreter will provide visitors with information on what they are observing. At the first window, visitors will also see the Aquarium’s volunteer beluga observer team and marine mammal research staff gathering data to keep better care of the belugas and to better understand beluga behaviour.
• The second viewing window is for quiet viewing, with an Aquarium Interpretive staff available to answer questions. Only photography without flash is permitted.
JUNE 8, 2009
BELUGA WHALE AURORA & NEW CALF BONDING BEAUTIFULLY
Newborn beluga calf introduced to one-year old Tiqa.
Following yesterday’s birth of a new beluga calf, the Vancouver Aquarium’s marine mammal care and veterinary teams are pleased to report that bonding between mother Aurora and her new baby is strong. The birth happened at 3:39 p.m. on June 7, 2009.
Ongoing observation of Mom and baby during the first 18 hours showed continued positive behaviours of strong interaction, with the calf continuing to swim alongside and be guided by mother Aurora. Nursing is underway and all signs to date are showing good development and interaction.
At 9:24 a.m. today, Qila and one-year old Tiqa were introduced to Aurora and her calf for the first time to celebrate World Oceans Day. This is the first occasion for two beluga calves to share a habitat at the Vancouver Aquarium. The two mothers and daughters swam in pairs for the first minute, and then Tiqa became increasingly curious about the new baby − following Aurora and her calf continuously and swimming alongside this new member of the family.
The newborn calf and Aurora will remain under 24-hour observation by the Aquarium’s veterinary and marine mammal care teams.
Vancouver Aquarium visitors will be able to view Aurora and her yet-to-be-named calf from 5 or 6 metres away on the upper deck of the Beluga habitat. Marine mammal care staff and researchers will observe behaviours and interactions, while interpretive staff will be available to visitors, engaging them in a rare educational opportunity.