BREEDING CAPTIVE BELUGAS 

Breeding whales in tanks is not something that is done for conservation purposes. It is not done to replenish wild whale stocks in the wild. Breeding whales is only done to make money for the aquarium industry.

New Baby Beluga born at the Vancouver Aquarium in 2002

The beluga whale called "Aurora" gave birth to a male baby beluga in the main show tank at the Vancouver Aquarium on July 20, 2002 in front of 200 spectators and lots of media. This is the THIRD TIME a beluga has been born inside the aquarium's tank in Stanley Park.

The first beluga born in Vancouver was conceived in the wild. In 1977, a female beluga called "Kavna" was captured in Hudson Bay. Nobody knew at the time that she was pregnant. A few months later she gave birth to "Tuaq", but he did not survive captivity. Tuaq died of a bacterial infection four months after her birth in 1977. Her mother Kavna, who still lives at the aquarium, conceived before she was captured in the icy waters off Churchill, Manitoba.

The death of this baby beluga prompted Premier Gordon Campbell to write a children's book titled "Tuaq, the only one". This beautifully illustrated book uses the real names of the belugas kept at the aquarium. Premier Campbell wrote this book to try to explain to his young daughter at that time, that the baby beluga was not dead, but free.

In July 1995, "Aurora" gave birth to the second baby beluga to be born at the aquarium. "Qila" is still alive today. "Bjossa", the last orca whale to suffer in captivity at the aquarium, gave birth to 3 calves over 20 years, but all of them died shortly after birth. This means one beluga and three orcas were born in captivity in Vancouver, but only two belugas have survived.

Aquarium visitors and exited children watched "Aurora" give birth with media cameras rolling and bright flash lights shining on the star of the show. It's amazing the mother and calf survived the circus show. Meanwhile, 4 adult belugas continue to live cramped inside a very small and shallow reserve tank in the back area of the aquarium, away from the public's view. The belugas are being warehoused in the back so that the baby and mother beluga are promoted in the larger show tank. People would be outraged if they could see in what horribly cramped conditions these belugas have been kept for almost a year, but nobody (especially not the media) has ever been allowed to see this marine mammal warehouse - where Stellar sea lions are also kept in tiny cages as part of a cruel experiment.