New Beluga Born at Shedd

That's a big baby.

The Shedd Aquarium family got a little bigger recently when Puiji, one of its two pregnant beluga whales gave birth to a 162-pound, five-foot, four-inch male calf on Monday.

The calf was born breech, emerging from its mother's womb head first rather than tail first, but took its first breath and began swimming very quickly, the Shedd reported in a press release issued Tuesday. It nursed from Puiji for the first time Tuesday morning.

Because of the breech birth, the calf's tail is slightly curved, Shedd officials said, so keepers are closely monitoring its ability to dive.  But veterinarians said the calf is in good condition and doing well so far.

They'll watch the calf carefully for the next several days.

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