🔗 Share this article

The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie Botts is an charming little “playful character”. The whale Orion – called “Onion” – is a sizeable but fiercely protective companion. Another whale, Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and wiggles like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “loving presence” with a heart of gold.

Thirty captive marine mammals in a Canada-based entertainment facility have become pawns in a struggle between a shuttered park, public officials and advocacy groups.

But those closest to the whales say the intense debate over their future often overlooks the nuances of the whales who, after living their entire lives in confinement, have been thoroughly researched by the humans who see them each day.

After the Canadian government disallowed the sale of the belugas to China, the embattled attraction near the famous falls where they are held stated it would consider to put them down unless the government pays for the upkeep of their survival. Canada’s marine resources official has rejected that demand, placing the thirty whales in an increasingly precarious situation.

Highly Cognitive Sea Creatures

Scientists say that belugas’ neuroanatomy, along with their sound replication, intellectual tasks and group interactions suggest they are remarkably smart animals – something one caretaker observed directly.

She spent three years as a marine mammal specialist, a role that required building relationships of the aquatic animals.

“Developing those relationships over time takes a lot of dedication and a lot of love. At the start, they’re very unsure of you,” she said. “In time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so extraordinary and rewarding.”

Burgess knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nonetheless amazed by the subtleties and quirks in their characters. She formed a special affection for a pair of whales with opposing natures.

“Eve selected me. Cleo demanded work,” she said. “They altered the way I view bonding.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

Her connection with the whales evolved against a backdrop of growing public opposition to their confinement.

During her time at the facility, seven belugas and the park’s one orca, the orca, died. In all, nineteen belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a number which the facility links to expected lifespan, but which campaigners say points to the poor conditions in which they were kept.

The facility did not open to the guests over the recent season, but Burgess says she observed directly results of the shutdown. “Structural materials is falling apart from the tanks because they’re falling apart and not being fixed. The whales are curious and so they take pieces and swim around with fragments in their jaws. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The park did not respond to a questionnaire, but in the past stated: “The whales … get far better medical attention and 24/7 care than any human in the United Kingdom, or other places.”

Uncertain Future and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was terminated from the facility in the spring following the death of a beluga, an unwell beluga the employees had to put down. She said the facility suspected details of the death were shared to the media and she was fired shortly thereafter.

The ambiguity over the whales’ fate has left Burgess and current and former trainers in anguish. She says the park’s threat to kill its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “practically unfeasible” task, adding any efforts to put down even a one beluga would require “considerable personnel”, trucks and specialized tools.

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

She supports calls for the whales to be removed promptly from the facility, with its failing enclosures and dwindling staff.

In recent months, Canada’s fisheries minister turned down a proposal to export the whales to an overseas location.

“To approve the proposal would have meant a perpetual existence in confinement and a reversion to public entertainment,” the official wrote. “As the public, we know that marine mammals should be in the ocean, not in tanks for our enjoyment. I could not in good conscience authorize an export that would continue the conditions these belugas have suffered.”

But Burgess said the official’s comments reflect a broader incorrect perception of the realities of living conditions for belugas raised in confinement.

“The society needs to understand these are whales that have existed solely in enclosed habitats and they will need human care for the foreseeable future,” she said. “The public just don’t realize that it’s not as simple as saying ‘close it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As authorities attempt to find a solution, proposals have been put forward, some of which have minimal feasibility. An idea called for the belugas to be let go into the open waters of Canada’s north – where whales are a primary resource of nourishment for Indigenous peoples.

A suggested sanctuary in the province of Nova Scotia, which now received regulatory clearance, has been highly debated. The planned facility, which includes a large area of protected cove, doesn’t yet exist. Advocates remain positive that it could ultimately represent a long term solution for a number of the whales.

But, Burgess says, among staff she’s spoken with, there is “skepticism there” about what she said is “only an trial” in the whales’ future.

Different voices say the prospect of a refuge represents a broader global shift away from captive facilities and could represent a viable solution in the short term.

The project lead, director of the sanctuary project, said the facility will replicate the intellectual stimulation and diet the whales obtain from trainers, albeit in a significantly bigger area. He said after the medical condition of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|