CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The Shedd Aquarium is mourning the loss of Mauyak, a beloved beluga whale who has called the Shedd home since 1997.
Aquarium officials said Mauyak, a 41-year-old female beluga whale, died over the weekend.
Mauyak, whose name meant “soft snow,” arrived at Shedd as part of the North American Beluga Breeding Cooperative. Many could spot Mauyak by the dark, gray streaks on her white sides.
“The matriarch of our beluga pod, her passing is heartbreaking to everyone who loves beluga whales,” said Peggy Sloan, the Shedd’s Chief Animal Operations Officer. And yet, we are so grateful for what we have learned by caring for her for over three decades.”
Sloan said those lessons included how beluga whales communicate, including squeals, trills, chirps, and “amazing mimicking abilities.”
Mauyak was a “very attentive” mother to her calves, Sloan said.
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Senior Animal Caretaker Megan Vens-Policky said Mauyak’s impact is not limited to “those she inspired during visits to the aquarium, but also on researchers in the field.”
“During her pregnancies at Shedd, our measurements of Mauyak’s growth contributed to a photogrammetry study — images that allow field biologists to identify pregnant whales more accurately in the wild to protect them,” Vens-Policky said.
Mauyak was 11-feet long and weighed 1,500 pounds. She was known for her playfulness and was frequently spotted spyhopping and squirting water, officials said.
“I am so grateful to have known Mauyak,” Vens-Policky said. “She will be profoundly missed.”
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