🔗 Share this article

Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie is an cute small “sweetheart”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion Ring” – is a sizeable but fiercely protective friend. Zephyr has “constant motion” and sways like a wiggly creature. Lillooet is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a kind nature.

A group of thirty enclosed marine mammals in a Canadian amusement park have become pawns in a tussle between a shuttered park, local and national governments and welfare campaigners.

But those closest to the whales say the impassioned debate over their fate often fails to consider the complexities of the whales who, after growing up in captivity, have been thoroughly researched by the caretakers who work with them regularly.

After the Canadian government prevented the export of the belugas to China, the controversial attraction near the famous falls where they are housed warned to end their lives unless the federal government covers the upkeep of their care. Canada’s marine resources official has denied that demand, placing the 30 whales in an dangerously unstable circumstance.

Highly Cognitive Sea Creatures

Scientists say that beluga whales’ neural makeup, along with their sound replication, cognitive challenges and group interactions suggest they are deeply intelligent animals – something a former trainer observed personally.

Burgess spent three years as a beluga trainer, a position that involved gaining confidence of the aquatic animals.

“Developing those relationships over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of care. At the outset, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “Eventually, you gain shared confidence. And they start being more open with you. It’s just so magical and rewarding.”

The trainer knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nevertheless surprised by the subtleties and quirks in their dispositions. She developed a special affection for two female belugas with opposing temperaments.

“Eve accepted me. The other required effort,” she said. “They transformed the way I understand relationships.”

Growing Opposition and Deteriorating Conditions

Burgess’s connection with the whales evolved against a backdrop of rising activist criticism to their enclosure.

During her three years at the park, seven belugas and the park’s one orca, Kiska, passed away. In total, nineteen belugas have died at the park since 2019, a statistic which the park attributes to expected lifespan, but which activists say reflects the substandard environment in which they were kept.

The facility did not admit visitors to the guests over the recent season, but Burgess says she observed directly effects of the shutdown. “Structural materials is deteriorating from the enclosures because they’re falling apart and not being maintained. The whales are exploratory and so they pick it up and move about with fragments in their mouth. It’s upsetting to see.”

The facility did not reply to a request for comment, but previously asserted: “The whales … obtain far better veterinary services and around the clock attention than any individual in the United Kingdom, or other places.”

Uncertain Future and Potential Resolutions

Burgess was dismissed from the facility in early March following the death of Eos, an sick beluga the caretakers had to put down. She said the park believed information of the incident were disclosed to the press and she was released not long after.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ fate has left Burgess and staff members in despair. She says the facility’s ultimatum to end the lives of its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “logistically impossible” task, adding any efforts to put down even a one beluga would require “considerable staff”, vehicles and specialized tools.

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

She supports demands for the whales to be transferred right away from the park, with its deteriorating pools and shrinking team.

In the autumn, the nation’s fisheries minister rejected a proposal to transfer the whales to China.

“Granting the request would have meant a perpetual existence in captivity and a reversion to performance for audiences,” the minister stated. “As Canadians, we know that whales are meant for the ocean, not in tanks for our amusement. I could not in clear conscience permit an relocation that would perpetuate the conditions these belugas have endured.”

But the former trainer said the minister’s comments indicate a more general misunderstanding of the facts of life for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The people needs to realize these are whales that have spent their whole lives in captivity and they will need constant supervision for the remainder of their lives,” she said. “People just don’t comprehend that it’s not as easy as saying ‘end operations’.”

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As officials work to find a resolution, proposals have emerged, some of which have minimal feasibility. One proposal called for the belugas to be released into the wilds of Canada’s north – where whales are a important part of sustenance for local populations.

A proposed sanctuary in the province of eastern Canada, which has received regulatory clearance, has proven contentious. The future site, which includes a large area of protected cove, doesn’t yet exist. Supporters remain positive that it could eventually represent a long term solution for a number of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among caretakers she’s discussed with, there is “doubts there” about what she said is “merely an untested concept” in the whales’ future.

Different voices say the idea of a sanctuary represents a changing attitudes away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a viable plan in the short term.

The project lead, director of the sanctuary project, said the site will mimic the cognitive activities and nutrition the whales receive from caretakers, albeit in a more expansive space. He said after the medical condition of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|