Ferdinand

Ferdinand. Photo courtesy of kionx (Flickr).

Ferdinand (*pronounced FUR-de-nan'd*), also known as Ferdi, was a 53-year-old male beluga whale who lived at SeaWorld San Diego in California. He was captured in Hudson bay, Canada in 1975. He is the oldest beluga whale both in captivity and in the world. Ferdinand passed away at SeaWorld San Diego in December of 2023.

## Capture & Early Life

Following his unsuccessful attempts to acquire a beluga whale in Germany in 1966, Dr. Wolfgang Gewalt, the former director of Zoo Duisburg, made the decision to personally capture beluga whales directly from the Arctic. His expedition began in 1969 in the Canadian Hudson Bay, resulting in the capture of two belugas, a male and a female.

However, it was later discovered that one of the belugas, Moby, who was initially believed to be a male was, in fact, a female. A male beluga was still required as a part of the zoos breeding program and so, in mid-July 1975, another expedition to the Hudson Bay was launched under the leadership of Dr. Gewalt, with the goal of capturing the male beluga. The expedition was financially supported by the Ferdinand Lentjes Foundation.

At that time, a substantial portion of the intended capture location had already frozen over. Despite these challenges, after securing several whales for an aquarium in New York, they successfully captured a male beluga whale on July 26th, at approximately 6 p.m. He was given the name Ferdinand.

Ferdinand was transported in a custom-made container and flown via Air Canada to Frankfurt Airport. Despite the sweltering outside temperature of over 30°C, he was transported in a refrigerated truck and arrived at Zoo Duisburg on July 31st. There, with the assistance of a 40-ton fire brigade crane, Ferdinand was gently lowered into the "Walarium," the beluga tank, to join the two females, Moby and Allua, who had been captured 6 years prior.

## Life at Zoo Duisburg

Ferdinand lived with Allua and Moby until Allua passed away in 1984. At that time, Ferdinand and Moby were also living with a single Commerson's dolphin named Jogy. 15 years after the death of Allua, Moby also passed away at Zoo Duisburg, leaving Ferdinand and Jogy behind at the zoo. After 30 years in captivity, Ferdinand was scheduled to be moved to a new home to be in the company of other beluga whales, so SeaWorld San Diego was selected as the new, permanent home of Ferdinand.

## Life at SeaWorld San Diego

Ferdinand and Jogy arrived at SeaWorld San Diego on September 12th, 2004, and were initially kept together in quarantine before Ferdinand was separated from Jogy and moved to the Wild Arctic exhibit at the park. There, Ferdinand met Ruby and Muktuk, two female belugas residing at the park, and a male named Nanuq. Nanuq later moved to SeaWorld Texas. Ferdinand participated in various scientific studies, such as heart rate studies and DNA analysis via skin sample studies. Ferdinand passed away at SeaWorld San Diego in December 2023 at the estimated age of 53.

## Transfer History

Ferdinand's Transfer History
 Holding facility, Canada
 Zoo Duisburg, Germany

## Gallery

*There are no photos to display in this gallery.*

## References

1. ↑ http://www.ferdinand.exclusivezone.de/about-ferdi--en-.html