It's a Girl!

Qila gave birth to her first calf at 4:28 p.m. Tuesday, June 10, 2008.

Visit the Qila and Calf Update page for the most up-to-date information on their progress.

Watch a video of the birth on our YouTube Channel.

This newborn beluga is:

• 1.35 metres long and weighs about 50 kilograms  
• slate grey – she will gradually lighten as she matures
• wrinkled for the first few weeks
• adorable
• making history – she’s the first calf in Canada to be born to an aquarium-born beluga.

Qila, a first-time mom, was born at the Aquarium on July 23, 1995. Like any brand new mammal mom she is still learning how to care for her baby.

Every day of her calf’s new life contributes to our limited knowledge of beluga birth and calf development, so we’re watching Qila and her calf around the clock to monitor bonding and nursing behaviours. The watch will continue for several months and will record all the calf’s developmental milestones.  

This new calf is also helping Aquarium researchers learn more about how these very vocal whales learn to “talk” to each other. Listen to some of the first calls exchanged between Qila and her calf. The researchers recorded them at day three.  

On your next visit to the Aquarium

… you’ll likely see researchers and trained volunteer observers monitoring Qila and her newborn calf around the clock.

During these first critical weeks, short distance viewing of first-time mom, Qila, and the calf is available from the upper deck. There will also be controlled group tours into the nursery where you can view mom and calf from underwater viewing windows. Visits to the beluga nursery are controlled to minimize the distractions to mom and calf.   

Where are the other belugas?

In preparation for the birth, two of the belugas (Imaq and Kavna) were moved to the Aquarium’s research area behind the scenes.  

The move gives Qila the space she needs to bond with and nurse her calf. It also minimizes the distractions to her as she establishes a nursing pattern with her newborn calf at this critical time.  

Aurora, Qila’s mom, is in the habitat, but separated from them to allow Qila and her calf some time to strengthen their bond.  

Imaq and Kavna will return to join grandma Aurora, Qila and her calf once the staff are certain that mom and calf are ready to widen their social circle. Imaq is the father of Qila’s calf.   

For further information

Visit the Qila and Calf Update page for the most up-to-date information on how the calf is progressing.

You can view Qila and the new calf live on our beluga web cam. 

Watch a video of Qila's ultrasound on our YouTube channel.  

If you have visited the Aquarium recently to see the new baby and have some photos, we'd love to see them! Add them to our Flickr Pool and/or tag them "babybeluga2008".

Please remember that you must turn off your flash before photographing mom and calf in the underwater viewing area. Thank you!

Make an origami beluga!

Joseph Wu is an acclaimed origami artist. He is internationally renowned, committed to taking origami to new levels of excellence as an art form. He is a celebrity in the world of origami, with one of the Internet's most-visited origami sites at www.origami.as. We are very fortunate that he and his family are Aquarium members. To celebrate the birth of our baby beluga, Joseph has created a magical and moving origami of a beluga mother and calf. We are honoured that he has given this as a gift to the Vancouver Aquarium, to share with everyone who loves belugas. To make your own beluga and calf, please download Joseph's instructions: Origami beluga. Thank you Joseph!

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