🔗 Share this article

Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie Botts is an adorable little “sweetheart”. The whale Orion – nicknamed “Onion Ring” – is a large but guardian-like friend. Zephyr has “constant motion” and sways like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a kind nature.

A group of thirty captive marine mammals in a Canadian entertainment facility have been entangled in a struggle between a shuttered park, public officials and advocacy groups.

But those working directly with the whales say the heated discussion over their destiny often fails to consider the individual traits of the whales who, after growing up in enclosed habitats, have been closely studied by the people who work with them regularly.

After the Canadian government blocked the sale of the belugas to a foreign facility, the struggling amusement park near Niagara Falls where they are kept warned to end their lives unless the government pays for the upkeep of keeping them alive. Canada’s marine resources official has denied that demand, placing the 30 whales in an increasingly precarious situation.

Intelligent Sea Creatures

Scientists say that beluga whales’ brain structure, along with their sound replication, problem solving and communal behavior indicate they are remarkably smart animals – something Kristy Burgess learned personally.

Burgess spent several years as a marine mammal specialist, a position that involved building relationships of the aquatic animals.

“Developing those connections over time takes a lot of regularity and a lot of affection. At the outset, they’re very unsure of you,” she said. “In time, you gain shared confidence. And they start being more open with you. It’s just so wonderful and rewarding.”

The trainer knew the whales were very smart, but she says she was even so amazed by the subtleties and quirks in their dispositions. She formed a deep bond for a pair of whales with opposing personalities.

“One whale accepted me. Cleo required effort,” she said. “They changed the way I perceive bonding.”

Growing Opposition and Deteriorating Conditions

Burgess’s interaction with the whales developed against a background of growing public opposition to their confinement.

During her tenure at the park, seven belugas and the park’s single killer whale, the orca, died. In all, 19 belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a statistic which the facility attributes to age-related causes, but which advocates say indicates the poor conditions in which they were housed.

The park did not admit visitors to the visitors over the summer, but the former trainer says she saw with her own eyes results of the closure. “Structural materials is falling apart from the enclosures because they’re in disrepair and not being maintained. The whales are inquisitive and so they take pieces and move about with pieces in their mouth. It’s upsetting to see.”

The facility did not respond to a questionnaire, but in the past asserted: “The whales … obtain far higher quality medical attention and 24/7 care than any individual in the Britain, or other places.”

Fate in Limbo and Potential Resolutions

The former employee was dismissed from the park in the spring following the demise of Eos, an sick beluga the park staff had to euthanize. She said the park suspected information of the death were leaked to the press and she was fired not long after.

The uncertainty over the whales’ fate has left Burgess and staff members in despair. She says the park’s ultimatum to end the lives of its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “extremely difficult” undertaking, adding any attempts to humanely kill even a individual beluga would require “considerable staff”, equipment and machinery.

“There’s no way in hell the employees would ever do it,” she said.

She supports calls for the whales to be taken right away from the park, with its crumbling tanks and shrinking team.

In the autumn, Canada’s fisheries minister denied a bid to send the whales to China.

“Allowing the request would have meant a ongoing existence in confinement and a reversion to performance for audiences,” the official stated. “As society, we know that marine mammals are meant for the sea, not in tanks for our entertainment. I could not in clear conscience permit an relocation that would prolong the treatment these belugas have suffered.”

But the former trainer said the minister’s remarks indicate a broader lack of awareness of the facts of life for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The society needs to understand these are whales that have existed solely in confinement and they will need ongoing assistance for the foreseeable future,” she said. “People just don’t realize that it’s not as easy as saying ‘shut it down’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Continuing Discussion

As authorities struggle to find a resolution, ideas have surfaced, some of which have minimal feasibility. One proposal called for the belugas to be let go into the natural habitat of Canada’s north – where whales are a primary resource of sustenance for Indigenous peoples.

A suggested protected area in the province of Nova Scotia, which recently received government approval, has proven most controversial. The planned site, which includes a large area of penned in ocean, is not yet built. Advocates remain hopeful that it could in time represent a long term answer for a number of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among trainers she’s consulted, there is “doubts there” about what she said is “simply an experiment” in the whales’ well-being.

Others say the idea of a refuge reflects a worldwide trend away from captive facilities and could represent a workable plan in the short term.

An official, director of the sanctuary project, said the site will replicate the intellectual stimulation and feeding regimen the whales receive from caretakers, albeit in a more expansive environment. He said after the medical condition of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|