A baby beluga whale that has been artificially raised for three months at Shimane Aquarium Aquas in western Japan was shown to the media on October 10.The offspring was born to Alya on July 1, but the mother died 10 days later.Since then, aquarium staffers have been providing care to and monitoring the baby around the clock.The staffers have been going through trial and error as there has been only one successful case of artificially raising a young beluga whale in Japan.

S/ Mishima Yuki, Veterinarian, Shimane Aquarium Aquas / It's healthy and drinking milk well, and we feel that it is growing day by day.

Alya's child is currently about 172 centimeters long and weighs 92.4 kilograms.It is often seen playing around with the staffers.

S/ Mishima Yuki, Veterinarian, Shimane Aquarium Aquas / As the mother is not there, we are having trouble emotionally stabilizing the baby. We also have to think about how to prepare it for joining a pod of beluga whales from now on.

Aquarium officials said they have not yet decided on the schedule for showing the baby beluga whale to the public.