SeaWorld has claimed another life after a newborn beluga whale died shortly after it was born at its Orlando theme park.
The death of the ‘unusually weak’ calf born to its 17-year-old mother Whisper was announced on Friday and is the second newborn to die at the park this year.
The reason why the beluga whale died is unclear but the park said the ‘unusually weak calf surfaced only briefly before sinking to the bottom of the pool’.
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Whisper, who was born at SeaWorld Antonio in 1999 and transferred to Orlando in 2010, received ‘routing ultrasound and health assessments to monitor her and the calf’s progress throughout the pregnancy’.
In May, a newborn Commerson’s dolphin calf died minutes after it was born at the Orlando water park.
The park is running a full post-mortem examination which could take several weeks.
Whisper is reportedly ‘active and alert’ but is undergoing 24-hour monitoring to ensure she stays healthy.
The hashtags #EmptyTheTanks and #Whitefish are trending as opposition to SeaWorld holding animals in captivity.
Earlier this year Szenja, a 21-year-old female polar bear born in a German zoo, unexpectedly died in her habitat at the San Diego park after her companion of 20 year Snowflake was moved to Pittsburgh zoo.
SeaWorld has a track history for splitting adored animals from their loved ones. The phenomenal documentary Blackfish revealed all with how the business treated its Orcas causing its stocks and attendance to plummet..
