🔗 Share this article

Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie is an cute little “ham sandwich”. Orion – called “Onion” – is a big but very loyal friend. Another whale, Zephyr has “constant motion” and sways like a wiggly creature. Lillooet is the “most affectionate” with a gentle spirit.

A group of thirty captive marine mammals in a Canada-based amusement park have become pawns in a tussle between a closed attraction, government authorities and advocacy groups.

But those closest to the whales say the impassioned discussion over their destiny often fails to consider the nuances of the whales who, after growing up in enclosed habitats, have been thoroughly researched by the people who see them each day.

After the Canadian government disallowed the transfer of the belugas to China, the embattled facility near the famous falls where they are housed warned to end their lives unless the federal government funds the cost of their survival. Canada’s fisheries minister has rejected that demand, placing the thirty whales in an increasingly precarious position.

Intelligent Sea Creatures

Experts say that beluga whales’ neuroanatomy, along with their sound replication, intellectual tasks and social skills indicate they are highly cognitive mammals – something Kristy Burgess learned personally.

She spent several years as a marine mammal specialist, a job that entailed earning the trust of the marine predators.

“Developing those relationships over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of love. At the outset, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “Eventually, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so wonderful and gratifying.”

Burgess knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nonetheless amazed by the subtleties and idiosyncrasies in their dispositions. She cultivated a special affection for Eve and Cleopatra with contrasting temperaments.

“One whale selected me. Cleo made me earn it,” she said. “Both altered the way I understand connection.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

Her connection with the whales developed against a context of growing public opposition to their captivity.

During her tenure at the attraction, multiple belugas and the park’s one orca, the orca, died. In total, nineteen belugas have died at the park since 2019, a number which the park links to expected lifespan, but which campaigners say reflects the poor conditions in which they were housed.

The facility did not operate to the visitors over the summer, but Burgess says she saw with her own eyes results of the shutdown. “Structural materials is falling apart from the enclosures because they’re in disrepair and not being repaired. The whales are inquisitive and so they take pieces and swim around with pieces in their mouth. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The park did not respond to a request for comment, but earlier claimed: “The whales … obtain far superior medical attention and constant care than any person in the Britain, or anywhere else.”

Uncertain Future and Potential Resolutions

The former employee was fired from the park in early March following the passing of a beluga, an unwell beluga the caretakers had to euthanize. She said the park suspected details of the death were leaked to the news outlets and she was fired soon after.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ fate has left Burgess and current and former trainers in despair. She says the facility’s threat to kill its whales is a negotiation tactic and is a “practically unfeasible” undertaking, adding any efforts to euthanize even a individual beluga would require “significant personnel”, equipment and machinery.

“It cannot happen in hell the employees would ever do it,” she said.

Burgess supports requests for the whales to be removed right away from the park, with its deteriorating pools and reduced personnel.

In recent months, Canada’s fisheries minister denied a bid to export the whales to China.

“Allowing the request would have meant a ongoing situation in enclosure and a reversion to public entertainment,” the official wrote. “As society, we know that whales should be in the ocean, not in tanks for our amusement. I could not in ethical standing permit an relocation that would prolong the situation these belugas have suffered.”

But Burgess said the minister’s comments reflect a wider lack of awareness of the facts of living conditions for belugas raised in confinement.

“The public needs to realize these are whales that have existed solely in enclosed habitats and they will need constant supervision for the foreseeable future,” she said. “The public just don’t comprehend that it’s not as easy as saying ‘end operations’.”

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As decision makers attempt to find a solution, proposals have surfaced, some of which have little basis in reality. An idea called for the belugas to be let go into the wilds of northern regions – where whales are a key source of sustenance for Inuit communities.

A suggested refuge in the province of Nova Scotia, which has received government approval, has proven most controversial. The future site, which includes 100 acres of penned in ocean, is not yet built. Proponents remain optimistic that it could ultimately represent a permanent solution for eight of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among trainers she’s discussed with, there is “skepticism there” about what she said is “merely an experiment” in the whales’ fate.

Some experts say the prospect of a protected habitat indicates a broader global shift away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a workable plan in the near future.

The project lead, director of the initiative, said the location will replicate the mental engagement and diet the whales get from specialists, albeit in a much larger space. He said after the well-being of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|