belugaCanada’s Vancouver Aquarium had double cause for celebration Wednesday as baby beluga whale Tiga turned one just days after welcoming another baby beluga to the family.

The aquarium’s 20-year-old beluga, Aurora, gave birth to a 1.5-metre calf weighing about 70 kilograms on Sunday. Aquarium staff are 90 percent certain the new arrival is female but won’t be certain for six months.

Live web cam footage showed mother and baby, yet to be named, bonding well. Video of the remarkable birth has also been posted on YouTube.

 

The arrival of the new calf further complicates the already confusing Vancouver beluga family tree.

family-treeIn 1995 Aurora became the first beluga to give birth in captivity in Canada. That calf, Qila, last year gave birth to Tiga. Tiga and the new calf share the same father, Imaq.

Tiga and her mother, Qila, were introduced to the pair on Monday but are spending nights in the back area of the beluga habitat to give Aurora the space she needs to bond and establish a nursing pattern with her newborn.

“Aurora and her calf are coming along nicely together. There are several critical milestones for the calf to reach over the next few days and weeks,” said Vancouver Aquarium vet Marty Haulena.

“Aurora has proven herself to be a great mother in the past and today we’ve already observed her maternal instincts come to the fore.  She’s doing just a great job so far.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 5:57 pm and is filed under Aquariums, Cetaceans, Cute, Mammals, Ocean, Whales, babies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.