🔗 Share this article

Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie is an charming little “sweetheart”. Orion – called “Onion Ring” – is a big but fiercely protective friend. Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and moves like a worm. Lillooet the beluga is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a kind nature.

Thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canada-based amusement park have been caught in a disagreement between a shuttered park, government authorities and welfare campaigners.

But those closest to the whales say the intense debate over their fate often overlooks the nuances of the whales who, after growing up in captivity, have been carefully observed by the caretakers who work with them regularly.

After the federal government disallowed the sale of the belugas to China, the embattled facility near Niagara Falls where they are housed warned to euthanize them unless the federal government funds the expense of keeping them alive. The nation’s fisheries minister has denied that ultimatum, placing the 30 whales in an dangerously unstable situation.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Scientists say that belugas’ neuroanatomy, along with their vocal imitation skills, intellectual tasks and group interactions indicate they are remarkably smart creatures – something Kristy Burgess discovered directly.

She spent a significant period as a whale caretaker, a role that required earning the trust of the sea creatures.

“Building up those relationships over time takes a lot of regularity and a lot of care. At the start, they’re very unsure of you,” she said. “Over time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more trusting with you. It’s just so wonderful and rewarding.”

Burgess knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was even so astounded by the subtleties and idiosyncrasies in their personalities. She developed a special affection for two female belugas with contrasting personalities.

“One whale selected me. Cleo made me earn it,” she said. “They altered the way I view relationships.”

Public Concerns and Deteriorating Conditions

Her interaction with the whales developed against a backdrop of growing public opposition to their confinement.

During her time at the attraction, multiple belugas and the park’s one killer whale, Kiska, died. In total, nineteen belugas have died at the park since recent years, a toll which the park ascribes to age-related causes, but which activists say points to the poor conditions in which they were maintained.

The park did not admit visitors to the visitors over the summer, but the former trainer says she saw with her own eyes effects of the cessation. “Structural materials is breaking off from the enclosures because they’re falling apart and not being maintained. The whales are curious and so they grab fragments and swim around with fragments in their jaws. It’s distressing to see.”

The park did not reply to a inquiry, but in the past claimed: “The whales … receive far higher quality health care and 24/7 supervision than any person in the UK, or other places.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was fired from the park in the spring following the demise of a beluga, an unwell beluga the employees had to euthanize. She said the facility suspected particulars of the incident were shared to the news outlets and she was let go soon after.

The uncertainty over the whales’ fate has left Burgess and staff members in distress. She says the facility’s ultimatum to euthanize its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “practically unfeasible” endeavor, adding any attempts to put down even a one beluga would require “considerable personnel”, vehicles and machinery.

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

She supports requests for the whales to be removed immediately from the facility, with its crumbling tanks and reduced personnel.

In recent months, the nation’s fisheries minister denied a request to send the whales to an overseas location.

“To approve the proposal would have meant a ongoing situation in confinement and a return to performance for audiences,” the minister stated. “As Canadians, we know that belugas belong in the wild, not in enclosures for our enjoyment. I could not in ethical standing permit an transfer that would prolong the treatment these belugas have suffered.”

But the former trainer said the minister’s statements indicate a wider incorrect perception of the realities of living conditions for belugas raised in confinement.

“The society needs to understand these are whales that have lived entirely in enclosed habitats and they will need ongoing assistance for the remainder of their lives,” she said. “The public just don’t understand that it’s not as simple as saying ‘end operations’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Continuing Discussion

As officials work to find a solution, proposals have emerged, some of which have minimal feasibility. One proposal called for the belugas to be freed into the open waters of Canada’s north – where whales are a important part of sustenance for Indigenous peoples.

A suggested protected area in the region of eastern Canada, which recently received government approval, has been contentious. The future site, which includes extensive space of protected cove, is not yet built. Supporters remain hopeful that it could in time represent a sustainable resolution for a number of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among caretakers she’s spoken with, there is “skepticism there” about what she said is “only an trial” in the whales’ fate.

Some experts say the prospect of a refuge indicates a changing attitudes away from captive facilities and could represent a viable solution in the coming months.

The project lead, director of the initiative, said the site will replicate the intellectual stimulation and feeding regimen the whales get from caretakers, albeit in a more expansive area. He said after the medical condition of whales is thoroughly evaluated, which could take months|an extended period|