AQUARIUM NEWS The newspaper headline says it all: "Aquarium plans expansion, despite beluga phase-out" Does that make sense to anybody? Of course not! Our call to action remains the same: NO NEW WHALE POOL$ NO NEW WHALE$ ------------------------------------------------ VANCOUVER SUN Aquarium plans expansion, despite beluga phase-out Investigation fails to determine why two whales died suddenly last fall From page A1 The Vancouver Aquarium will proceed with its ambitious expansion plans, even though it will phase out its captive beluga program over the next 12 years. “This institution will continue to be the one and only place in Canada scientists can do research on belugas that are trained to participate,” he said. But others are less pleased about the continuing presence of captive cetaceans at the aquarium. Green party Coun. Adriane Carr has been a critic of the aquarium’s captive cetacean program, and said she was disappointed by the news. “That’s way too long. Obviously, the intention to phase out is good, but the idea that they would be bring any belugas back in is absolutely the wrong direction ,” she said .“The public willis that no more belugas are kept in the aquarium.” The aquarium owns five belugas that are on loan to facilities in the United States, and some of those might return to Vancouver for display. Any decisions about breeding those still abroad will be left to the organizations that house them. Meanwhile, aquarium veterinarian Martin Haulena announced Monday that scientists have been unable to determine a definitive cause of death for Aurora and Qila, despite spending more than $100,000 on an investigation that included input from outside experts. The team went so far as to map the beluga genome in their search for the culprit, but no infection, disease or physical element of the whales’ tank has been identified. The aquarium suspects a toxin was responsible, although no lingering contaminants have been found in the tissues of the dead whales. While intentional poisoning hasn’t been ruled out, it’s also possible a naturally occurring toxin was responsible. “The epidemiology of the scenario, the chain of events, lead us to be highly suspect of a toxin that came and went — and one that we may not identify,” Haulena said. He added that the investigation is ongoing, and described the two deaths as unprecedented. “It is absolutely the worst thing that has ever happened to me in my professional career,” said Haulena, a veterinarian for 25 years. The debate over keeping cetaceans in captivity has waxed and waned in Vancouver over the years, but it was most recently ignited by the beluga deaths last year. In January, park board commissioners voted to ask staff for alternatives to a public referendum on the issue.