Aquarium makes history in first-of-its-kind procedure for Kimalu, a beluga whale

Kimalu (KEE-ma-loo), a 12-year-old female beluga whale, is resting comfortably following a historic procedure at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium. On Tuesday, July 1, Kimalu, who was born at Shedd, underwent a first-of-its-kind surgery to remove a growing network of cysts near her blowhole on her head and neck. In the process, Kimalu became the first known beluga in the world to recover from general anesthesia. The surgery was supported by nearly 30 experts from Shedd and across the country in the fields of zoological medicine, surgery and anesthesia.

Shedd’s animal care and clinical experts are monitoring Kimalu around the clock as she remains behind the scenes to ensure her welfare and well-being during the recovery process. This entails addressing her utmost comfort with antibiotics, incision-site care, pain medicine, post-surgery nutrition and extra attention from her care team.

The aquarium is encouraged by Kimalu’s progress so far and remains cautiously optimistic as her journey continues. Pathologists will run tests on the cysts removed to better understand their origin and inform future treatment.

“There is no playbook for anesthetizing a beluga and taking her into surgery, so we leaned on our deep understanding of Kimalu as an individual and our incredible network of experts both here at Shedd Aquarium and beyond to guide this procedure,” said Dr. Karisa Tang, vice president of animal health at Shedd Aquarium. “Not only did we succeed in helping Kimalu, but we also made history for beluga whales along the way.”

The experience and findings from this procedure mark an important milestone for Shedd Aquarium, as an organization dedicated to advancing the field of aquatic animal medicine and well-being. This successful outcome not only helps provide relief to Kimalu; it will change the future of beluga care around the globe. Shedd plans to share its learnings with veterinarians worldwide, fueling a greater level of care and welfare for this species both in aquariums and potentially for their wild counterparts as well.

Shedd’s animal care team first noticed Kimalu’s cysts during her daily check-ins. Following some initial tests, and despite her weighing over 1,000 pounds, the veterinary team decided to perform a CT scan on her to determine the extent of the cysts and help form a diagnostic plan.

The results of the CT scan indicated that surgery was the best option to better understand how the cysts formed and provide Kimalu with a better quality of life and chance to thrive into the future.

The aquarium announced the surgery last week on social media, detailing Kimalu’s condition and the need for surgical intervention.

As with any surgery, Shedd’s veterinary team recognized that anesthesia posed an inherent risk. Anesthesia is especially complicated for belugas, due to their general size and unique physiology as aquatic mammals. This meant that even if the operation was a success, there was a chance Kimalu would not tolerate the anesthesia or possibly not recover when the anesthesia was reversed.

“There were moments when it felt like we were all holding our breath simultaneously,” said Dr. Tang. “This experience is a memory that will stay with me for the rest of my career.”

When it came time to reverse the anesthesia, experts used several tactics to rouse Kimalu, including having her lifelong caretakers there to speak to her and playing recordings of vocalizations from Shedd’s beluga pod for her to hear.

Once Kimalu was awake and alert, the care team carefully returned her to the water in a specially designed medical habitat and assisted as she began to swim again. Shedd’s caretakers will stay with her constantly to monitor her recovery, provide ample nutrition and do everything they can to support her as she heals.

“Her recovery will take time and is still not a guarantee, but we believe this procedure has already provided great relief for Kimalu from the discomfort the cysts were causing,” said Dr. Tang. “Right now, Kimalu gets to set the pace for her healing, and we will follow her lead.”

The aquarium remains hopeful yet guarded, stressing that Kimalu’s recovery journey is just beginning. Shedd will share regular updates on Kimalu’s recovery on social media in the days and weeks that follow.

Kimalu’s procedure could not have happened without the instrumental support of Shedd’s team of experts, as well as several external partners and leaders. These collaborators came from Chicagoland and across the country to lend their experience and perspective and included Colorado State University, Innovative Veterinary Medicine, the Veterinary Specialty Center, Brookfield Zoo Chicago, SeaWorld, North Carolina State University, ZooRadOne, Indianapolis Zoo, University of Illinois’s School of Veterinary Medicine and Zoological Pathology Program and Arthrex Vet Systems.