An unnamed baby beluga whale meets the press on Tuesday at the Shedd Aquarium with mother, Mauyak. (Credit: John Cody/WBBM Newsradio)
CHICAGO (CBS) — A brand new baby beluga is now 205 pounds and getting ready to meet the public at the Shedd Aquarium.
The Shedd’s head animal trainer describes the new arrival, an unnamed female, as extremely playful and alert.
“She’s very, very curious,” said aquarium vice president Ken Ramirez.
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“You see her looking through the gates at the other habitats. They are doing a lot of fun stuff and she’ll be right there watching.”
Ramirez says now and again the baby dolphin will nuzzle up to the underwater gate of the pool adjacent to the baby beluga.
“And you’ll see the baby dolphin and the baby beluga staring at each other and it’s really cool to see,” he said.
Ramirez says the new Beluga born Aug. 27 is gaining about two pounds per day on milk from mother Mauyak and will start meeting the public this coming Friday.
This is the third Shedd baby for Mauyak (My-AK), who previously gave birth to Qannik (kah-NIK) and Miki (MEE-kee).
