Beluga from Canada’s Marineland dies at SeaWorld San Diego

On Sunday night, 18 October, a nine-year-old male beluga named Cyprus died at SeaWorld San Diego. The park called the death unexpected: the animal had stopped eating two days earlier.

Cyprus arrived on 22 August from the closed Marineland park in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Two other male belugas came with him. NBC 7 San Diego reports that the journey covered more than 2,500 miles in specialised cold-water transport units with an animal-care team.

According to a SeaWorld Facebook post cited by NBC 7 and KPBS, after Cyprus stopped eating veterinarians examined him: an ultrasound showed his intestinal tract was not functioning normally and could indicate a life-threatening condition. Treatment continued through the night. Until then he had been eating consistently and adapting to trainers and the two other rescued belugas. The park notes that belugas often mask discomfort. The other two belugas in San Diego remain in stable health under close monitoring.

A full necropsy is planned; the cause of death is to be shared with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). CBC, citing Canadian Press, adds the wider picture: over the summer Marineland moved about 30 belugas and four dolphins to facilities in the United States and Spain; since the transfer, four belugas and one dolphin have died, including animals at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium and Oceanografic in Valencia.