Connecticut aquarium pays over $12K to settle beluga care investigation

A Connecticut aquarium where three beluga whales died in recent years has agreed to settle a federal investigation over alleged animal care and water quality violations by paying a $12,200 fine while not admitting or denying the accusations.

The whales died from illnesses after being brought to Mystic Aquarium from Canada in 2021, according to the aquarium. The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed the settlement on Aug. 13. The aquarium agreed to the conditions, a spokesperson said Wednesday, adding that there was disagreement over whether violations occurred.

The alleged violations cited by the Department of Agriculture played no role in the deaths of the three whales, said Meagan Seacor, vice president of external relations for the aquarium. The whales had pre-existing health problems that were not detectable before they arrived in Mystic, she said.

The three whales were among five that were brought to Mystic in 2021 from Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario, after a lengthy legal battle to obtain permits from both the U.S. and Canada.

In August 2021, a 5-year-old male beluga whale named Havok died from an intestinal disease. Two female whales, Havana and Kharabali, died in 2022 and 2023, respectively, from storage disease, which can damage the brain, spinal cord and other body areas, according to the aquarium. All three whales' health problems were genetic and not curable, aquarium officials said.

Two of the violations cited by the Department of Agriculture related to the care of Havok. The agency claimed aquarium staff failed to call for veterinarian care in the last hours of his life despite observing him exhibiting abnormal behaviors including frequent rolling in the water and other signs of distress.

Federal investigators also said Havoc, who had vision problems, had been injured twice in June 2021, once by ramming himself into a gate while a worker used a net to try and retrieve a foreign object that fell into his tank. He also was wounded by striking posts in the aquarium’s medical pool, authorities said.

The investigators also said testing of the beluga whales' pools in late 2021 showed extremely high levels of coliform bacteria. The settlement agreement said the bacteria may have contributed to some of Havana's medical conditions, but it does not definitively link her ailments to bacteria.

Seacor said the high bacteria levels were the result of a brief period when equipment malfunctioned, and the aquarium took immediate action to fix the equipment and there haven't been similar problems since.

The aquarium agreed to the settlement to avoid costly litigation in challenging the alleged violations, Seacor said.

“While we respectfully disagree with the USDA’s assertions, settling this case allows us to stay focused on our core mission: caring for the animals at Mystic Aquarium and inspiring people to protect marine life,” she said in a statement.

The aquarium's care of the whales has been tracked by several animal advocacy groups.

Naomi Rose, senior scientist for marine mammal biology at the Animal Welfare Institute in Washington, D.C., said Mystic Aquarium had a good reputation for animal care before the whale deaths, but the federal investigation showed significant problems.

“Personally — that’s just me as a professional animal advocate — I think Mystic made a huge number of mistakes," Rose said. "And I really would like them to get more than a slap on the wrist, which in some ways this is."

She added, “I wouldn't say it's just, but ... it's better than nothing.”

Beluga whales, known for their white hue, are smaller whales, generally 11 to 15 feet long (3 to 5 meters) and can weigh up to 2,500 pounds (1,134 kilograms). Their lifespan is around 35 to 50 years in the wild, with some living 80 years or more, according to various wildlife advocacy groups. Mystic Aquarium now has five belugas that live in pools containing a total of 750,000 gallons (2.8 million liters) of water.

FILE - Three beluga whales swim together in an acclimation pool after arriving at Mystic Aquarium, May 14, 2021, in Mystic, Conn. (Jason DeCrow/AP Images for Mystic Aquarium, File)

HONG KONG (AP) — The first person convicted under a tough new Hong Kong national security law was sentenced on Thursday to 14 months in prison for wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan.

Chu Kai-pong, 27, wore a shirt on June 12 reading “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” a slogan chanted during anti-government protests in 2019. That day was the fifth anniversary of a demonstration in which thousands of people surrounded the city's legislative council complex to protest a now-withdrawn extradition bill. Months of often-violent protests followed as demonstrators expanded their demands to call for greater police accountability and democracy.

Authorities have said the protest slogan could imply the separation of Hong Kong from China — a red line for Beijing.

Chu pleaded guilty in court on Monday to the charge of carrying out an act or acts with a seditious intent.

The city's new security law, which critics say further stifles freedom of expression, took effect in March and imposes stiffer punishments for sedition offenses. Offenders face up to seven years in prison, up from the previous maximum sentence of two years for a first offense and three years for a subsequent offense.

Colluding with an external force to carry out such activities is now punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

In handing down the sentence on Thursday, Chief Magistrate Victor So said June 12 is viewed as a symbolic date among protesters and Chu's case was not minor because he used the date in an effort to encourage others to remember the unrest and revive ideas about it. That caused a great risk to social order, he said.

He noted that Chu had already been jailed for sedition earlier this year and his subsequent act showed the deterrent effect of his previous sentence was insufficient.

He said Chu“planned to commit a crime shortly after he was released from prison and was evidently unwilling to reform,” but reduced the prison term by one-third because of Chu's guilty plea.

In January, So sentenced Chu to three months in jail under a colonial-era law before the security law took effect. In that case, Chu was arrested for wearing a similar T-shirt at the airport and possessing publications deemed seditious by authorities.

The court heard on Monday that Chu had told police that he wore the T-shirt in June to remind people of the 2019 protest movement. Chu also wore a mask printed with “FDNOL,” an abbreviation of another protest slogan, “Five demands, not one less."

The prosecution accused Chu of attempting to cause hatred, contempt or disaffection toward the country's fundamental system and the city's constitutional order. It said his acts could incite others to use illegal means to change what the authorities have decided on.

The 2019 protest movement was the most concerted challenge to the Hong Kong government since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. It waned because of massive arrests, the exile of democracy activists, the COVID-19 pandemic and the imposition of an earlier 2020 security law by Beijing.

Amnesty International’s China director, Sarah Brooks, said Chu's conviction and sentencing over his clothing choice highlighted “the sheer malice” of the new security law. She urged local authorities to repeal the law.

“Chu Kai-pong is the first person convicted under this legislation, but its vague wording, vast scope and repressive nature leaves Hong Kongers fearing that he will not be the last,” she said.

The Beijing and Hong Kong governments insist the two security laws are necessarily for maintaining the city's stability.

FILE - A protestor holds a flag that reads: "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times" at a rally in Hong Kong, on Dec. 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)