Mystic Aquarium getting 5 Beluga whales from Canada

Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut is preparing for the arrival of five Beluga whales from a zoo and amusement park in Canada after navigating approval processes on both sides of the U.S. border and overcoming legal challenges from environmental groups.

Government officials from Fisheries and Oceans Canada recently approved the export of the whales from Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario to Mystic, which specializes in Beluga research. That follows U.S. approval of the move last September.

Experts from both facilities were in Niagara Falls Wednesday examining the four female and one male Belugas and preparing to fly them to Connecticut as early as this weekend, according to Stephen Coan, the Connecticut aquarium’s president and chief executive.

The whales are expected to spend a few weeks acclimating to their new environment in tanks separated by a gate from Mystic's three current resident Belugas — Kela, Juno and Natasha — before being fully integrated into the 750,000-gallon habitat.

Coan said the whales, which range in age from 7 to 12, were born in captivity and cannot be released into the ocean. He said they will be leaving an overcrowded habitat with about 50 other whales and will be at the center of important research designed to benefit Belugas in the wild.

“We have state of the art veterinary care and state of the art facilities," he said. “This is the largest Beluga habitat in North America. They will be much better off here.”

Connecticut-based Friends of Animals and other activists sought to block the transport in a lawsuit last fall against the U.S. Commerce secretary and National Marine Fisheries Service, which had approved the research permit. A federal judge in March declined to issue an injunction.

Stephen Hernick, the senior attorney for the Friends of...