🔗 Share this article

The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an charming little “playful character”. Orion – called “Onion Ring” – is a large but very loyal companion. Zephyr has “endless energy” and sways like a worm. Lillooet the beluga is the “loving presence” with a gentle spirit.

A group of thirty enclosed marine mammals in a Canadian amusement park have become pawns in a disagreement between a defunct facility, public officials and welfare campaigners.

But those most familiar with the whales say the intense discussion over their destiny often fails to consider the complexities 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 federal government disallowed the export of the belugas to a foreign facility, the embattled facility near the famous falls where they are housed warned to end their lives unless the government covers the cost of keeping them alive. Canada’s marine resources official has refused that demand, placing the 30 whales in an ever more uncertain situation.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Researchers say that belugas’ brain structure, along with their sound replication, intellectual tasks and communal behavior indicate they are remarkably smart mammals – something a former trainer observed directly.

She spent several years as a beluga trainer, a job that required building relationships of the marine predators.

“Establishing those connections over time takes a lot of dedication and a lot of love. At the start, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “Over time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more open with you. It’s just so wonderful and fulfilling.”

Burgess knew the whales were exceptionally cognitive, but she says she was nevertheless amazed by the subtleties and idiosyncrasies in their dispositions. She developed a particular love for Eve and Cleopatra with different temperaments.

“One whale accepted me. Cleo made me earn it,” she said. “Both altered the way I view bonding.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

Her relationship with the whales progressed against a background of growing public opposition to their confinement.

During her tenure at the park, seven belugas and the park’s one killer whale, the orca, died. In all, 19 belugas have died at the park since 2019, a number which the facility ascribes to natural mortality, but which activists say indicates the inadequate care in which they were maintained.

The park did not open to the public over the recent season, but the former trainer says she saw with her own eyes consequences of the shutdown. “Structural materials is breaking off from the tanks because they’re degrading and not being maintained. The whales are exploratory and so they take pieces and move about with pieces in their mouth. It’s upsetting to see.”

The facility did not respond to a request for comment, but earlier asserted: “The whales … get far superior medical attention and around the clock care than any human in the Britain, or other places.”

Uncertain Future and Potential Resolutions

Burgess was terminated from the facility in the spring following the death of Eos, an unwell beluga the employees had to humanely kill. She said the facility believed information of the incident were leaked to the news outlets and she was released not long after.

The uncertainty over the whales’ outcome has left her and staff members in despair. She says the park’s threat to euthanize its whales is a leverage tool and is a “extremely difficult” task, adding any attempts to euthanize even a single beluga would require “significant personnel”, trucks and machinery.

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

Burgess supports calls for the whales to be transferred immediately from the park, with its crumbling tanks and dwindling staff.

In recent months, the nation’s government official denied a bid to send the whales to an overseas location.

“Granting the application would have meant a continued situation in confinement and a reversion to public entertainment,” the official commented. “As the public, we know that marine mammals belong in the ocean, not in enclosures for our entertainment. I could not in clear conscience permit an export that would perpetuate the situation these belugas have endured.”

But the former trainer said the minister’s statements reflect a wider incorrect perception of the facts of life for belugas born in captivity.

“The public needs to grasp these are whales that have lived entirely in confinement and they will need ongoing assistance for the rest of their years,” she said. “People just don’t understand that it’s not as simple as saying ‘close it down’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Ongoing Debate

As authorities attempt to find a resolution, ideas have emerged, some of which have minimal feasibility. One proposal called for the belugas to be released into the wilds of the Arctic – where whales are a important part of nourishment for local populations.

A proposed sanctuary in the province of eastern Canada, which recently received official endorsement, has proven contentious. The planned facility, which includes a large area of protected cove, is not yet built. Advocates remain hopeful that it could ultimately represent a sustainable solution for some of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among staff she’s spoken with, there is “skepticism there” about what she said is “merely an experiment” in the whales’ well-being.

Others say the prospect of a refuge indicates a broader global shift away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a workable solution in the coming months.

An official, director of the initiative, said the location will replicate the mental engagement and diet the whales obtain from caretakers, albeit in a much larger area. He said after the health of whales is thoroughly evaluated, which could take months|an extended period|