A nine-year-old beluga transferred from Marineland in Niagara Falls to SeaWorld San Diego has died, the California facility announced in a statement reported by The Canadian Press and KPBS.

Cyprus arrived on August 22. SeaWorld said he stopped eating on Friday, October 16, and an ultrasound subsequently raised concerns about abnormal intestinal function.

Those observations do not establish a cause of death. The facility says a full necropsy will be performed and its findings shared with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Facility describes an unexpected decline

According to the City News Service report published by KPBS on October 19, SeaWorld said veterinarians provided overnight treatment after Cyprus became ill. The facility described the death as unexpected, saying he had previously been eating and adjusting to his new surroundings.

SeaWorld says the other rescued belugas in its care remain stable and are being closely monitored. That is the facility’s assessment, not an independent medical finding.

An Ontario connection

The Canadian Press reports that 30 belugas and four dolphins were moved from the closed Marineland facility during a wider relocation effort. Cyprus’s death is a new development in that transfer story; it does not by itself establish that relocation caused his illness.

No necropsy result explaining his death was available in the reports reviewed. The Canadian Press identifies SeaWorld’s announcement as a Sunday social-media statement; its October 19 story should not be read as establishing that the death occurred on Monday.

Sources: The Canadian Press via CityNews, October 19, 12:52 p.m. Toronto; City News Service via KPBS, October 19, 1:01 p.m. Pacific. SeaWorld’s original Facebook statement was not directly accessible during verification.

Lead image: Editorial illustration of a beluga in an aquarium setting, not a photograph of Cyprus or a reconstruction of his illness or death.