🔗 Share this article

The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie Botts is an cute small “playful character”. The whale Orion – nicknamed “Onion Ring” – is a large but guardian-like companion. Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and wiggles like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “loving presence” with a kind nature.

A group of thirty captive marine mammals in a Canadian entertainment facility have been caught in a tussle between a closed attraction, local and national governments and welfare campaigners.

But those closest to the whales say the heated controversy over their fate often ignores the nuances of the whales who, after spending their lives in enclosed habitats, have been carefully observed by the people who work with them regularly.

After the Canadian government blocked the sale of the belugas to a foreign facility, the struggling attraction near the famous falls where they are held warned to euthanize them unless the authorities funds the cost of their care. The nation’s fisheries minister has denied that request, placing the 30 whales in an increasingly precarious position.

Highly Cognitive Sea Creatures

Experts say that belugas’ brain structure, along with their sound replication, intellectual tasks and communal behavior point to they are remarkably smart creatures – something Kristy Burgess observed first-hand.

Burgess spent three years as a marine mammal specialist, a role that entailed earning the trust of the aquatic animals.

“Establishing those bonds over time takes a lot of regularity and a lot of care. At the beginning, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “In time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more open with you. It’s just so magical and gratifying.”

The trainer knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nevertheless astounded by the details and quirks in their dispositions. She developed a special affection for a pair of whales with different temperaments.

“One whale selected me. The other made me earn it,” she said. “Each altered the way I view relationships.”

Public Concerns and Deteriorating Conditions

Her relationship with the whales progressed against a backdrop of increasing societal concern to their captivity.

During her time at the park, multiple belugas and the park’s single killer whale, the orca, passed away. In all, nineteen belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a number which the park ascribes to natural mortality, but which campaigners say reflects the poor conditions in which they were housed.

The park did not operate to the visitors over the recent season, but the former trainer says she saw with her own eyes effects of the cessation. “Concrete is deteriorating from the tanks because they’re degrading and not being fixed. The whales are exploratory and so they take pieces and navigate with chunks in their mouth. It’s distressing to see.”

The park did not comment to a request for comment, but previously claimed: “The whales … get far better veterinary services and constant attention than any person in the United Kingdom, or other places.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was terminated from the park in the spring following the demise of a beluga, an unwell beluga the caretakers had to humanely kill. She said the facility thought information of the death were shared to the news outlets and she was let go not long after.

The ambiguity over the whales’ fate has left her and other caretakers in despair. She says the facility’s ultimatum to kill its whales is a leverage tool and is a “logistically impossible” endeavor, adding any plans to put down even a one beluga would require “significant personnel”, equipment and heavy equipment.

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

She supports demands for the whales to be transferred immediately from the park, with its failing enclosures and reduced personnel.

In the autumn, Canada’s fisheries minister denied a request to transfer the whales to an overseas location.

“To approve the proposal would have meant a perpetual life in captivity and a return to display for amusement,” the official stated. “As society, we know that marine mammals should be in the sea, not in tanks for our enjoyment. I could not in clear conscience authorize an relocation that would perpetuate the conditions these belugas have endured.”

But Burgess said the official’s comments indicate a wider misunderstanding of the realities of living conditions for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The people needs to grasp these are whales that have spent their whole lives in enclosed habitats and they will need human care for the foreseeable future,” she said. “People just don’t comprehend that it’s not as simple as saying ‘end operations’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Ongoing Debate

As officials struggle to find a resolution, ideas have been put forward, some of which have minimal feasibility. One proposal called for the belugas to be freed into the natural habitat of the Arctic – where whales are a primary resource of nourishment for local populations.

A planned refuge in the province of eastern Canada, which recently received official endorsement, has shown to be most controversial. The planned location, which includes a large area of enclosed sea water, is not yet built. Supporters remain hopeful that it could ultimately represent a permanent answer for eight of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among trainers she’s consulted, there is “doubts there” about what she said is “merely an trial” in the whales’ fate.

Others say the possibility of a refuge represents a broader global shift away from animal displays and could represent a workable plan in the near future.

An official, director of the sanctuary project, said the facility will mimic the intellectual stimulation and diet the whales get from caretakers, albeit in a more expansive environment. He said after the health of whales is thoroughly evaluated, which could take months|an extended period|