Things looking up for ailing beluga Aurora, aquarium says

Encouraging news for beluga Aurora A sick beluga at the Vancouver Aquarium may be heading toward recovery thanks to clues from the whale's daughter's necropsy.

The Vancouver Aquarium has received new clues about what killed Qila the beluga whale, and staff are using them to help treat the cetacean's ailing mother.

Dr. Martin Haulena, the facility's head veterinarian, said test results from Qila's necropsy arrived late Thursday night, shedding some light on her yet-unconfirmed illness, which is also believed to be afflicting her mother, Aurora.

That helped his team develop a new therapeutic strategy targeting Aurora's gastrointestinal tract, and on Friday staff said the beluga has once again started playing and seeking rubs from her trainers.

"We haven't seen these kinds of behaviours from her in almost two weeks," Haulena said in a release.

Prior to the apparent breakthrough, the aquarium said the outlook for Aurora appeared grim. The whale has been under round-the-clock care for more than a week, receiving fluids and medicine every three hours.

The aquarium said the procedure requires as many as 18 people working together to complete.

Though Aurora appears to be getting healthier, this isn't the first time she's shown improvement since she fell ill, and Haulena cautioned she still has a long way to go.

One of her symptoms is a loss of appetite, and the beluga has lost a considerable amount of weight.

Qila died suddenly on Nov. 16 after showing similar symptoms to Aurora's for several days. The beluga, who was the first ever born in a Canadian aquarium, was 21 years old.

Her mother, who was taken from the Western Hudson Bay beluga population, is believed to be around 30. Aurora was the last beluga acquired by the Vancouver Aquarium before it instituted its policy of only accepting cetaceans that were born in captivity.