FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                                                      JULY 23, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, QILA!

Vancouver, BC – The Vancouver Aquarium is pleased to wish Qila a very happy 13th birthday!

Qila (pronounced: Kee-lah) was born at the Vancouver Aquarium on July 23rd 1995. She was the first beluga to be both conceived and born in a Canadian aquarium.

Qila’s mother, Aurora, also makes her home at the Vancouver Aquarium.  She is 21 years old.

As Qila turns 13 today, she continues the latest phase of her life as a new mother. Qila gave birth to a female calf on June 10, 2008 at 4:28pm. 

Members and visitors to the Vancouver Aquarium continue to express great interest in increasing their knowledge of the birth and development of the baby beluga.

In celebration of Qila’s birthday and to enhance beluga interpretation programming currently in place, the Aquarium is proud to introduce a new program, Behind the Birth, allowing members and visitors a new opportunity to learn more about these amazing creatures.

Starting today, Behind the Birth offers visitors an interactive session in the Aquarium’s Goldcorp theatre including never-before-seen, HD footage. Visitors will hear more about the critical moments immediately following the beluga birth as told by the Aquarium staff who witnessed this amazing birth event.

BELUGA CALF UPDATE:

The calf and mother continue to progress well and are observed on a 24-hour basis by the Aquarium’s veterinary and animal care staff.  Following is an update on the calf’s progress:

She’s becoming more curious with her surroundings.  The calf will now at times approach the glass which is part of the Aquarium’s underwater viewing gallery and have a look at the Aquarium visitors who are fortunate enough to spend a few minutes observing this amazing creature.

Upon surfacing, the baby beluga is now making her vocalizations in the open air.  Some squeaking and rattling can be heard from her at the surface of the water.  She’s even sounding “raspberries”, which is similar to the human behaviour of sticking out your tongue and blowing out air!

The baby beluga continues to develop in physical size, too.  She is now nearly double the size compared to her appearance at birth.  Her length has increased by a considerable amount and her girth has also expanded in a very noticeable way.

She is just completing her moult (a shedding of her skin) with her appearance smoothing out once again.  Occasionally you may still observe her on the Aquarium’s beluga cam rubbing her exterior alongside a ledge in her habitat.  That behaviour is a natural part of her moulting process as she attempts to finish this phase of her development.

This is Qila’s first calf, which was sired by Imaq the sole male beluga at Vancouver Aquarium.  Qila’s mother, Aurora, is currently located in an adjacent habitat to Qila and her calf.

The Vancouver Aquarium is a self-supporting, non-profit association dedicated to effecting the conservation of aquatic life through display and interpretation, conservation practices, education, research, and direct action.  Please visit www.vanaqua.org to find out more about Vancouver Aquarium.

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Media Contacts:

Kent Hurl                                                                  Dave Calder

Public Relations                                                      VP, Marketing & Communications
Office: 604.659.3752                                      Office: 604.659.3438

Cell: 604.230.4673                                         dave.calder@vanaqua.org

kent.hurl@vanaqua.org