Beluga Birth

It's a Bouncing Baby Beluga!

Qila gave birth to her first calf at 4:28 PM Tuesday, June 10, 2008.

This newborn beluga is:

about 1.5 metres long and weighs more than 50 kilograms (at birth)
slate grey -- it will gradually lighten as it matures
wrinkled for the first few weeks
adorable

Qila was born at the Aquarium on July 23, 1995, and is now a mom herself.

Her trainers are monitoring her and the newborn calf to give her calf the best chance for survival. Watch a video of Qila's ultrasound on our YouTube channel.

This is Qila's first calf and like any new mammal mom she is learning how to care for her baby. One of the first few milestones the veterinary staff will be looking for is bonding and nursing.

In preparation for the birth, two of the belugas (Imaq and Kavna) were moved to the Aquarium's research area behind the scenes.

The move gives Qila the space she needs to bond and nurse her calf. It also minimizes the distractions to her as she establishes a nursing pattern with her newborn calf.

Aurora, Qila's mom, will stay with her as a companion.

Imaq and Kavna will return to join Qila and her calf once the staff are certain that mom and calf are ready to widen their social circle. Imaq is the father of Qila's calf.

• Category

  Pets & Animals

[hannahgracespraggy]

so cuute! what is the baby's name?

[VancouverAquarium]

Qila's baby (the baby in this video) is named Tiqa

[Covet Amory]

this is wonderful, i love sea life. i'm sorry to see that some immature comments have been made to this video. there's nothing disturbing about a natural healthy birth.

i was referred here by the Times Standard newspaper.

[merpandmeep]

i love how shes like yay im born now going swimming lol

[merpandmeep]

omg she was my fav i remeber when i first saw her she came right up to the glass right to me i loved her :)

[501stTom]

Born as a slave, APPLAUSE :D:D:D:D:D -.-

[wiisalute]

holy crap that baby grew fast!

[horselover84728]

totally agree. likr seriously all the screaming must have added to the stress for mother and especially baby. it should have been done in private.

[Fleur de Lis]

This a wonderous experience...the beautiful circle of life ♥♥♥

But i hate the captivity for big mammals like this in a too small aquarium :(

Specialy the precious beautiful privat moment of giving birth was better WITHOUT the circus of thousands of yelling people around the aquarium!

[Edward Lai]

Awesome!

[bluestar2109]

The worst ! ever ! American idol ! brought me here

[xLadyAmulet98x]

Too bad she's dead....;~;