Beluga whales transferred to U.S. aquariums after Canadian theme park closes

All right, now we turn to a multinational emergency rescue operation for nearly 30 beluga whales. This week, the first group of belugas rescued from a shunned Canadian theme park began arriving in the U.S. You see their faces here. This is after aquariums in Chicago and San Antonio agreed to care for them. Jared Ochacha returns because he got to meet two of the belugas that now call Texas Frank and Bertie Botts traveled more than 1,500 miles from Canada to their new home in the Lone Star State. The two inseparable Arctic whales are among the first of 28 belugas set to be relocated to aquariums across the U.S. through an international emergency rescue effort. I can't help but get just a big giant smile speaking about them. Getting the more than 1,000 pound belugas to Texas was a massive undertaking. SeaWorld's Steve Abel accompanied them. We'll put them into a cradle. We'll lift them up with a crane because they're big and they're heavy. You'll put them into their box, which then goes rolling onto a truck. The truck takes you to the airport. You then roll up onto the plane. You secure them in the aircraft and you are airbound. Who would ever think that you've gotten a chance to fly with a whale? The whales had been living in Marineland, a Canadian theme park that closed to the in 2024 amid allegations of animal mistreatment. The park kept the whales for some time but said it didn't have the resources to continue caring for them. Working with several aquariums, U.S. and Canadian officials secured the belugas new homes, including in SeaWorld San Antonio. Now these whales are settling into a two million gallon saltwater pool and joining eight other whales that already live here. It's a magical, soaring experience. You know the team that they're coming in to work with. You know the situation of a park that's no longer going to be able to take care of them and you know you're a part of the solution. Over the next few weeks, another 11 belugas are expected to arrive in San Antonio. The rest are heading to aquariums in Atlanta and Chicago. Abel says the whales' lives will be drastically different in their new environment. They're going to just have a much more dynamic and exciting environment here. Not because Marineland was doing anything wrong or bad, but just strictly because Marineland had stopped functioning as a working theme park and we are not. Birdie and Frankie are already exceeding their caretakers' expectations and are happy to be settling into a more permanent home. For CBS Saturday Morning, Jared Ochacha, San Antonio. Oh that's the money shot at the end. And that big bulbous thing on their head is called a melon. It helps them communicate. It's not their brain, which I kind of thought, because everyone's always touching it and rubbing it. Just if you're interested, that's what that is. Save the belugas and their melon. Really sweet story. Thank you, Jared. Good stuff, Jared. Thanks for that.