• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Kimalu The Beluga Whale Undergoes Pioneering Surgery And Becomes First Beluga To Survive General Aesthetic

July 5, 2025 by Deborah Bloomfield

Surgery is always risky, and when you’re operating on an animal rather than a person, the logistics involved can be pretty serious, especially when that animal typically lives in the water. Kimalu, a beluga whale, has just become the first known beluga in the world to recover from general anesthesia after an operation to remove cysts on the top of her head.

Kimalu has lived at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium for her entire life and is well known to the keepers who work there. This meant they quickly realised when something was wrong during her daily check-ins with the team. After performing some tests, the keepers decided the next stage was a CT scan, not an easily accomplished feat on an animal that weighs over 453 kilograms (1,000 pounds). The results of the CT suggested that surgery was the next step forward to help Kimalu and understand how the cysts had formed. 

“There is no playbook for anesthetizing a beluga and taking her into surgery, so we leaned on our deep understanding of Kimalu as an individual and our incredible network of experts both here at Shedd Aquarium and beyond to guide this procedure,” said Dr Karisa Tang, vice president of animal health at Shedd Aquarium in a statement. 

“Not only did we succeed in helping Kimalu, but we also made history for beluga whales along the way.”



The surgery was supported by around 30 experts, both human surgeons and veterinary specialists. Due to their unique physiology, including their squishy melon heads, it was not known how Kimalu would respond to the anaesthesia or whether she would even come round at all.

“There were moments when it felt like we were all holding our breath simultaneously,” said Dr Tang. “This experience is a memory that will stay with me for the rest of my career.”

To ensure Kimalu could wake up smoothly, she was surrounded by her keepers and even played noises from the rest of Shedd’s beluga pod to wake up to. She was lifted into a recovery habitat where she can be monitored as she recovers from the surgery. 

“Her recovery will take time and is still not a guarantee, but we believe this procedure has already provided great relief for Kimalu from the discomfort the cysts were causing,” said Dr Tang. “Right now, Kimalu gets to set the pace for her healing, and we will follow her lead.”

Elsewhere in the world of animal surgery, Tundra the bear recently became the proud owner of the largest veterinary crown in the world.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Audi launches its newest EV, the 2022 Q4 e-tron SUV
  2. Dinosaur Prints Found Under Restaurant Table Confirmed As 100 Million Years Old
  3. Archax: Japanese Engineers Make Transformer Robot That Actually Works
  4. How Do We Know There Is Anything Beyond The Observable Universe?

Source Link: Kimalu The Beluga Whale Undergoes Pioneering Surgery And Becomes First Beluga To Survive General Aesthetic

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • New Study Raises “Disturbing Prospect” About Alien Civilizations Using Dyson Swarms
  • The Khamar-Daban Incident Is So Strange It Is Known As “Buryatia’s Dyatlov Pass”
  • Zebroids, Zeedonks, Zorses, Zonies: Welcome To The World Of Zebra Hybrids
  • How Far Into The Universe Can You See With Your Naked Eye?
  • “Rarest Baryon Decay Ever Observed So Far” Found In Experiment That Wasn’t Even Looking For It
  • Scientists “Read Minds” By Opening The Brain’s “Filing Cabinet” Of Memories
  • 4,000-Year-Old Ancient Egyptian Handprint Discovered On “Soul House” Tomb Offering
  • Dogs Can Smell Parkinson’s Disease Years Before Symptoms Appear With Incredible Accuracy
  • The Longest-Reigning Monarch
  • Adorable Boxer Crabs Filmed “Cloning” Their Living Anemone Gloves For The First Time
  • Watch An Adorable Little Crab Hitch A Ride On A Mosaic Jellyfish Through The Gulf Of Thailand
  • COVID Vaccines Saved An Incredible 2.5 Million Lives In The First 4 Years Of The Pandemic
  • NASA Has Made A Sizable Error In Lunar And Martian Physics, Study Suggests
  • Disappearing Stars In The 1950s Associated With UAPs And Nuclear Weapons Tests
  • These Are The “New Seasons” Scientists Think Are Emerging Because Of Climate Change
  • Sharks And Rays Have The Oldest Vertebrate Sex Chromosomes – And They’re Like No One Else’s
  • Extremely Rare Black Hole Type Caught Snacking On A Star 450 Million Light-Years Away
  • Extremely Rare Asian Golden Cat Captured On Camera Trap Slinking Through Thai Forest
  • Around 720 Million Years Ago, Our Planet Turned Into A Snowball Earth – Is This Why?
  • New Excitonic Quantum State Of Matter Could Lead To Radiation-Proof Self-Charging Computers
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version