Baby beluga whale survives rough birth at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium

December 16, 2009 by Shawn Douglas
Filed under: News

A baby beluga whale was born into the world on Monday at Shedd Aquarium, but not without problems.

Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium had another beluga whale enter its ranks on Monday, but not without a little drama. The mother, Puiji, gave birth to a 162-pound, 5-foot-4-inch calf, but the calf was breech, coming out head first.

Breech births can be dangerous for whales, and often the calf doesn’t survive the ordeal. “As soon as we saw this was going to be a breech birth, we put four divers into the pool to assist if they needed to,” Ken Ramirez, Shedd’s senior vice-president of animal collections, told the Chicago Tribune.

“While not the norm, breech births obviously can be successful,” said Ramirez. “While both mom and calf continue to do well, a breech birth poses additional hurdles and we will continue to closely monitor the natural behaviors of each whale over the coming days and weeks.”

Beluga whales usually deliver their young tail first. This tail-first birthing process, which can last six or seven hours, allows the baby’s tail cartilage to harden as it hangs outside the mother’s body for a few hours. When the baby is fully born the tail is fully hardened, and the baby is able to successfully swim to the surface to take its first breath. In breech births, the tail comes out last and is typically soft and curved, creating problems for the baby.

Ramirez said that the Shedd team has trained for breech scenarios with further awareness of the related problems. “We now train for this possibility, and when this baby showed it was in trouble, our divers moved in and lifted him to the surface, holding him until he began to breathe,” said Ramirez.

Afterwards, the divers had to nurse the calf as it couldn’t dive appropriately. But the baby is making progress. “Puiji is an incredible mom and is teaching the calf how to dive, which is essential for nursing,” Ramirez told Chicago television station WGN.

“While we will continue to watch the calf’s swimming patterns, we are pleased with his diving progress,” he added.

The handlers will keep a constant vigil on the baby beluga to ensure that it is properly feeding and receiving the nutrition it needs. Many of the belugas, including Puiji and her baby, are not able to be viewed currently as the team works to provide appropriate care.

Watch a video from the Chicago Sun-Times: Baby beluga born at the Shedd