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Bouncing baby beluga.

Qila, 1st beluga whale born in a Canada aquarium, becomes a mama. Vancouver Aquarium launches new program.

by Michelle Pentz Glave

Qila just turned 13, but she’s not your average moody teen. The first beluga conceived and born in a Canadian aquarium, Qila (pronounced: Kee-lah) became a mom herself. The whale gave birth to a female calf on June 10, 2008, at the Vancouver Aquarium in Vancouver, BC.

The babe seems happy and healthy. She’s even making “raspberries,” the human equivalent of sticking out your tongue and making the motorboat sound. Viewers can watch the baby in action on the aquarium’s beluga cam.

Qila herself was born at the Vancouver Aquarium in 1995 and her 21-year-old mom, Aurora, still lives with her.

To celebrate Qila’s special day, and to enhance the beluga interpretation programming, the aquarium has launched a new program, Behind the Birth. It’s an interactive session in the aquarium’s Goldcorp Theatre that features live interpretation with brand-new HD footage. The focus is on the critical moments just after the beluga birth, narrated by aquarium staff who witnessed the Big Event.

www.vanaqua.org
www.tourismvancouver.com
www.tourismbc.com

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We welcome you to use these story ideas as inspiration for your own stories about Canada. The CTC owns all rights worldwide. (Our images are also royalty-free and available for editorial print, broadcast and electronic use.) If you choose to reproduce these texts for editorial use only, please include the author's byline and "courtesy of the Canadian Tourism Commission." If you cut, edit or modify the text in any way, please include this note: "The text has been modified from the original." Thank you.

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