Baby beluga whale rescued off Alaskan coast (VIDEO)
A baby beluga rescued off the coast of Alaska has become the first successfully rescued beluga in US history.
The first rescued baby beluga whale in US history is said to be doing extremely well under the care of an Alaska aquarium, ABC News reported.
The baby beluga was found near South Naknek in Alaska’s Bristol Bay on June 18 by two passing fisherman. Veterinarians at the Alaska SeaLife Center who are looking over the whale believe he was separated from his mother during a storm. At the time of his rescue the calf was believed to be just days old.
Veterinarian Dr. Carrie Goertz told ABC that while the calf is in good hands, he is not out of the woods yet. “The state of his immune system is not where I would like it to be. He will be at risk for infection for months until his own immune system starts kicking into gear because he never received milk from his mother.”
The successful rescue of the calf has caught the attention of marine life experts from around the country.
The Miami Herald reported that teams including the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and SeaWorld in San Diego – have flown in to help with the calf's around-the-clock feedings and care.
Brett Long, the husbandry director at the Seward center, told the Associated Press that they are taking the calf's recovery one day at a time. "We're very happy to see that we appear to be meeting its nutritional goals and that it's maintaining its weight, and we're seeing slow, incremental weight gain."
ABC shared this video of the calf receiving care:
