When Tiqa was born at the Vancouver Aquarium on June 10, 2008, she made history. Her mother, Qila, is the first beluga born in a Canadian aquarium. Tiqa herself is the first second-generation beluga born in a Canadian aquarium.

Vancouver Aquarium researchers are studying how beluga calves learn their calls. Studying belugas at the Aquarium provides them with valuable information that would be difficult to obtain in the wild.