A beluga whale at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium had a groundbreaking surgery that is poised to change the future of beluga whale care worldwide.
Kimalu, a 12-year-old 1000 pound beluga whale, is recovering from surgery to remove cysts near her blowhole on her neck and head. She is the first beluga whale to successfully recover from general anesthesia.
Karisa Tang, the vice president of animal health at the Shedd Aquarium, said her caretakers noticed cysts on her last year during the whale’s daily check-ins. The cysts continued to grow, and they noticed Kimalu was uncomfortable.
They performed a CT scan on Kimalu and determined surgery was the best option moving forward.
“We know Kimalu personally. We see her every day, and this is not something we wanted to do, but it’s something that we had to do to do what’s right for her,” Tang said.
Kimalu was transferred out of the water and placed on memory foam mattresses to make sure she was comfortable during the surgery.
“She’s aquatic. She lives in the water, which is not where you want to do surgery most of the time,” Tang said. “So, we have to make sure that her skin is nice and wet while keeping her out of the water and keeping that surgery site really clean.”
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Putting whales under anesthesia can be complicated due to their large size and unique physiology as aquatic animals. However, Tang said the Shedd brought in specialists who could offer their expertise throughout the process, including experts in dolphin anesthesia and surgery.
When reversing the anesthesia, Kimalu’s caretakers spoke to her and played recordings of vocalizations from the aquarium’s beluga pod. After she was awake and alert, Kimalu was returned to the water in a special, medical habitat where she can be monitored.
The success of the surgery means other beluga whales could undergo general anesthesia and recover. The Shedd plans to share its findings with other veterinarians around the world.
“And so, this means that other things that maybe people thought weren’t possible to do to help relieve an animal from pain or help a condition is now potentially doable, because there are people who have the expertise to put an animal safely under general anesthesia,” Tang said.
Kimalu has around-the-clock care while she is recovering and will be back with the public in a few months.
“It’s going to be day by day. This is just the beginning of her journey. But where we are right now, we’re very hopeful,” Tang said.
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