🔗 Share this article

Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an adorable little “sweetheart”. The whale Orion – called “Onion” – is a big but fiercely protective companion. Another whale, Zephyr has “constant motion” and wiggles like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “loving presence” with a gentle spirit.

A group of thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canada-based amusement park have been entangled in a disagreement between a closed attraction, government authorities and advocacy groups.

But those working directly with the whales say the heated discussion over their future often fails to consider the individual traits of the whales who, after spending their lives in confinement, have been carefully observed by the humans who work with them regularly.

After the national authorities blocked the transfer of the belugas to China, the struggling amusement park near Niagara Falls where they are kept threatened to euthanize them unless the authorities funds the cost of their survival. Canada’s marine resources official has refused that demand, placing the thirty whales in an increasingly precarious position.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Scientists say that belugas’ neural makeup, along with their sound replication, cognitive challenges and group interactions suggest they are highly cognitive creatures – something Kristy Burgess discovered personally.

She spent a significant period as a marine mammal specialist, a role that involved building relationships of the aquatic animals.

“Building up those connections over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of affection. At the outset, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “Eventually, you gain shared confidence. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so wonderful and fulfilling.”

Burgess knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was even so astounded by the details and unique traits in their characters. She developed a special affection for a pair of whales with different natures.

“Eve chose me. The other required effort,” she said. “They transformed the way I perceive bonding.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

Burgess’s relationship with the whales progressed against a background of increasing societal concern to their captivity.

During her three years at the park, seven belugas and the park’s single orca, Kiska, died. In total, 19 belugas have died at the park since 2019, a toll which the facility attributes to age-related causes, but which advocates say reflects the inadequate care in which they were maintained.

The park did not open to the visitors over the recent season, but the former trainer says she observed directly results of the closure. “Structural materials is falling apart from the pools because they’re falling apart and not being fixed. The whales are inquisitive and so they take pieces and navigate with pieces in their mouth. It’s upsetting to see.”

The park did not comment to a inquiry, but earlier asserted: “The whales … receive far better health care and constant care than any human in the UK, or anywhere else.”

Fate in Limbo and Potential Resolutions

The former employee was dismissed from the facility in the spring following the passing of Eos, an sick beluga the employees had to humanely kill. She said the park believed information of the death were leaked to the media and she was released not long after.

The ambiguity over the whales’ fate has left Burgess and staff members in despair. She says the facility’s warning to euthanize its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “extremely difficult” undertaking, adding any plans to humanely kill even a individual beluga would require “immense personnel”, vehicles and heavy equipment.

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

Burgess backs demands for the whales to be transferred promptly from the park, with its deteriorating pools and shrinking team.

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

“Allowing the proposal would have meant a continued existence in confinement and a return to public entertainment,” the minister commented. “As society, we know that marine mammals belong in the ocean, not in tanks for our entertainment. I could not in clear conscience authorize an relocation that would continue the situation these belugas have experienced.”

But the former trainer said the minister’s remarks reveal a more general incorrect perception of the circumstances of existence for belugas born in captivity.

“The society needs to grasp these are whales that have existed solely in confinement and they will need constant supervision for the remainder of their lives,” she said. “The public just don’t comprehend that it’s not as straightforward as saying ‘close it down’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Continuing Discussion

As authorities work to find a solution, suggestions have emerged, some of which have questionable practicality. A suggested plan called for the belugas to be freed into the natural habitat of northern regions – where whales are a important part of food for local populations.

A suggested protected area in the region of Nova Scotia, which recently received government approval, has been contentious. The future location, which includes 100 acres of enclosed sea water, is not yet built. Supporters remain optimistic that it could ultimately represent a long term solution for a number of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among caretakers she’s consulted, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “simply an untested concept” in the whales’ fate.

Different voices say the possibility of a sanctuary represents a changing attitudes away from captive facilities and could represent a viable solution in the short term.

Charles Vinick, leader of the initiative, said the location will replicate the intellectual stimulation and feeding regimen the whales obtain from caretakers, albeit in a much larger area. He said after the medical condition of whales is thoroughly evaluated, which could take months|an extended period|