🔗 Share this article

Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie is an cute little “playful character”. The whale Orion – called “Onion” – is a sizeable but guardian-like friend. Another whale, Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and wiggles like a worm. Lillooet is the “loving presence” with a gentle spirit.

Thirty enclosed marine mammals in a Canadian entertainment facility have been entangled in a disagreement between a shuttered park, local and national governments and animal rights activists.

But those working directly with the whales say the intense debate over their destiny often overlooks the nuances of the whales who, after living their entire lives in confinement, have been closely studied by the humans who work with them regularly.

After the national authorities blocked the transfer of the belugas to a foreign facility, the embattled facility near Niagara Falls where they are kept warned to euthanize them unless the federal government pays for the cost of their survival. The nation’s fisheries minister has rejected that request, placing the 30 whales in an dangerously unstable circumstance.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Experts say that beluga whales’ neural makeup, along with their mimicry abilities, problem solving and group interactions suggest they are deeply intelligent creatures – something Kristy Burgess observed directly.

Burgess spent three years as a whale caretaker, a job that entailed earning the trust of the aquatic animals.

“Establishing those connections over time takes a lot of dedication and a lot of affection. At the outset, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “In time, you gain reciprocal understanding. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so magical and gratifying.”

The trainer knew the whales were exceptionally cognitive, but she says she was nevertheless astounded by the details and idiosyncrasies in their dispositions. She formed a particular love for a pair of whales with opposing personalities.

“One whale accepted me. Cleo demanded work,” she said. “Each changed the way I view relationships.”

Public Concerns and Deteriorating Conditions

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

During her tenure at the attraction, seven belugas and the park’s one killer whale, Kiska, died. In total, nineteen belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a toll which the park attributes to natural mortality, but which campaigners say reflects the poor conditions in which they were housed.

The park did not open to the guests over the summer, but Burgess says she witnessed firsthand effects of the cessation. “Concrete is falling apart from the tanks because they’re degrading and not being maintained. The whales are exploratory and so they grab fragments and swim around with pieces in their jaws. It’s upsetting to see.”

The park did not reply to a inquiry, but previously asserted: “The whales … receive far superior veterinary services and constant supervision than any person in the UK, or anywhere else.”

Uncertain Future and Proposed Solutions

Burgess was dismissed from the park in the spring following the death of Eos, an sick beluga the caretakers had to humanely kill. She said the park believed particulars of the incident were shared to the press and she was released shortly thereafter.

The ambiguity over the whales’ future has left Burgess and staff members in anguish. She says the facility’s warning to end the lives of its whales is a negotiation tactic and is a “logistically impossible” undertaking, adding any efforts to euthanize even a one beluga would require “immense staff”, trucks and machinery.

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

Burgess supports demands for the whales to be taken promptly from the park, with its deteriorating pools and reduced personnel.

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

“To approve the application would have meant a perpetual existence in enclosure and a return to performance for audiences,” the minister commented. “As society, we know that marine mammals are meant for the wild, not in enclosures for our enjoyment. I could not in good conscience approve an relocation that would prolong the treatment these belugas have endured.”

But Burgess said the official’s remarks reveal a more general lack of awareness of the realities of life for belugas raised in confinement.

“The public needs to understand these are whales that have existed solely in captivity and they will need constant supervision for the rest of their years,” she said. “People just don’t realize that it’s not as simple as saying ‘close it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As officials work to find a solution, ideas have surfaced, some of which have questionable practicality. An idea called for the belugas to be released into the open waters of Canada’s north – where whales are a key source of nourishment for local populations.

A planned sanctuary in the province of Nova Scotia, which has received regulatory clearance, has shown to be highly debated. The planned facility, which includes extensive space of protected cove, is not yet built. Supporters remain positive that it could in time represent a long term answer for some of the whales.

But, Burgess says, among caretakers she’s spoken with, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “only an untested concept” in the whales’ well-being.

Some experts say the prospect of a refuge reflects a broader global shift away from captive facilities and could represent a workable approach in the coming months.

The project lead, director of the sanctuary project, said the location will simulate the mental engagement and nutrition the whales get from caretakers, albeit in a significantly bigger area. He said after the medical condition of whales is thoroughly evaluated, which could take months|an extended period|