6 beluga whales from Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ont., now swimming in new U.S. homes

6 beluga whales from Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ont., now swimming in new U.S. homes

1st wave of relocations for about 30 belugas began Monday

Six captive belugas from Canada are now swimming in the waters of their new homes in the United States.

Marineland and a consortium of U.S. aquariums helped move the first batch of whales in a long, complex process that began Monday afternoon at the closed Niagara Falls, Ont., tourist attraction.

Marineland's external legal counsel, Andrew Burns, said the move went better than expected, with no major hiccups lifting the whales out of their pools and placing them in tanks on transport trucks, and no issues in a two-hour convoy ride to the airport.

'Emergency rescue' of Marineland's beluga whales to U.S. aquariums has begun

A spokesperson for the U.S. consortium, Johnny Ford of the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, said four whales arrived there in the early hours of Tuesday morning and are doing well.

Marineland starts relocating its whales

He said two other belugas went on to SeaWorld in San Antonio and ended up in those pools later Tuesday morning.

See how they got the belugas from Marineland to the United States, step by step

Marineland has said it is running out of money and can no longer care for the whales and is in the process of an unprecedented move to get 24 more belugas and four dolphins out of the park.