🔗 Share this article

Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie is an cute little “sweetheart”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion” – is a large but fiercely protective companion. Another whale, Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and wiggles like a worm. Lillooet is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a kind nature.

A group of thirty captive marine mammals in a Canada-based entertainment facility have been caught 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 fate often fails to consider the nuances of the whales who, after spending their lives in confinement, have been thoroughly researched by the humans who see them each day.

After the national authorities prevented the sale of the belugas to China, the controversial amusement park near the famous falls where they are kept stated it would consider to put them down unless the government covers the expense of keeping them alive. The nation’s marine resources official has refused that demand, placing the thirty whales in an dangerously unstable situation.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Scientists say that belugas’ neuroanatomy, along with their sound replication, intellectual tasks and social skills suggest they are remarkably smart creatures – something Kristy Burgess observed directly.

Burgess spent three years as a whale caretaker, a position that involved building relationships of the marine predators.

“Building up those relationships over time takes a lot of regularity and a lot of affection. At the start, they’re very unsure of you,” she said. “Eventually, you gain reciprocal understanding. And they start being more open with you. It’s just so wonderful and fulfilling.”

The trainer knew the whales were very smart, but she says she was nevertheless amazed by the subtleties and idiosyncrasies in their dispositions. She formed a particular love for a pair of whales with opposing natures.

“Eve selected me. The other required effort,” she said. “They altered the way I view bonding.”

Growing Opposition and Facility Decline

Burgess’s relationship with the whales evolved against a backdrop of growing public opposition to their confinement.

During her tenure at the park, seven belugas and the park’s one orca, the orca, died. In total, 19 belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a number which the facility attributes to natural mortality, but which advocates say reflects the substandard environment in which they were kept.

The park did not open to the visitors over the recent season, but Burgess says she observed directly consequences of the closure. “Structural materials is deteriorating from the tanks because they’re falling apart and not being fixed. The whales are exploratory and so they grab fragments and swim around with fragments in their jaws. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The facility did not comment to a request for comment, but in the past asserted: “The whales … get far higher quality veterinary services and around the clock supervision than any human in the UK, or anywhere else.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

Burgess was dismissed from the park in the spring following the demise of Eos, an sick beluga the employees had to put down. She said the facility believed particulars of the death were shared to the press and she was released shortly thereafter.

The ambiguity over the whales’ outcome has left Burgess and current and former trainers in anguish. She says the park’s threat to end the lives of its whales is a leverage tool and is a “logistically impossible” endeavor, adding any plans to humanely kill even a one beluga would require “immense manpower”, vehicles and heavy equipment.

“It’s impossible in hell the employees would ever do it,” she said.

She supports requests for the whales to be transferred right away from the facility, with its crumbling tanks and reduced personnel.

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

“Allowing the proposal would have meant a perpetual situation in confinement and a return to public entertainment,” the minister stated. “As the public, we know that belugas should be in the wild, not in pools for our entertainment. I could not in clear conscience authorize an transfer that would perpetuate the conditions these belugas have suffered.”

But Burgess said the official’s statements reveal a wider lack of awareness of the facts of life for belugas born in captivity.

“The public needs to understand these are whales that have lived entirely in enclosed habitats and they will need human care for the rest of their years,” she said. “Many just don’t realize that it’s not as easy as saying ‘close it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As authorities struggle to find a solution, suggestions have surfaced, some of which have little basis in reality. A suggested plan called for the belugas to be freed into the wilds of Canada’s north – where whales are a important part of nourishment for local populations.

A planned sanctuary in the province of eastern Canada, which has received government approval, has been highly debated. The prospective location, which includes a large area of enclosed sea water, doesn’t yet exist. Proponents remain hopeful that it could eventually represent a long term answer for a number of the whales.

But, Burgess says, among trainers she’s discussed with, there is “skepticism there” about what she said is “simply an untested concept” in the whales’ future.

Some experts say the possibility of a protected habitat reflects a changing attitudes away from captive facilities and could represent a feasible plan in the coming months.

Charles Vinick, head of the initiative, said the location will simulate the mental engagement and diet the whales obtain from trainers, albeit in a much larger environment. He said after the medical condition of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|