🔗 Share this article

Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie is an cute small “sweetheart”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion Ring” – is a sizeable but very loyal companion. Another whale, Zephyr has “endless energy” and sways like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a gentle spirit.

A group of thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canada-based entertainment facility have been entangled in a disagreement between a shuttered park, government authorities and welfare campaigners.

But those most familiar with the whales say the impassioned debate over their destiny often ignores the individual traits of the whales who, after spending their lives in captivity, have been closely studied by the caretakers who interact with them daily.

After the federal government prevented the export of the belugas to China, the controversial amusement park near the famous falls where they are held warned to end their lives unless the government covers the upkeep of keeping them alive. The nation’s fisheries minister has rejected that request, placing the thirty whales in an increasingly precarious circumstance.

Intelligent Sea Creatures

Scientists say that belugas’ neural makeup, along with their vocal imitation skills, intellectual tasks and social skills suggest they are highly cognitive mammals – something a former trainer observed first-hand.

Burgess spent a significant period as a marine mammal specialist, a job that involved building relationships of the marine predators.

“Developing those connections over time takes a lot of dedication and a lot of care. At the start, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “Eventually, you gain shared confidence. And they start being more trusting with you. It’s just so extraordinary and gratifying.”

The trainer knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nonetheless surprised by the details and unique traits in their dispositions. She developed a particular love for Eve and Cleopatra with contrasting personalities.

“One whale selected me. The other required effort,” she said. “Each transformed the way I perceive bonding.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

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

During her tenure at the facility, seven belugas and the park’s single killer whale, Kiska, died. In total, 19 belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a number which the park links to expected lifespan, but which campaigners say indicates the inadequate care in which they were kept.

The facility did not admit visitors to the guests over the summer, but the former trainer says she witnessed firsthand results of the shutdown. “Concrete is deteriorating from the enclosures because they’re falling apart and not being maintained. The whales are exploratory and so they take pieces and navigate with fragments in their mouth. It’s distressing to see.”

The park did not respond to a inquiry, but previously asserted: “The whales … obtain far superior health care and constant supervision than any human in the United Kingdom, or other places.”

Uncertain Future and Potential Resolutions

The former employee was dismissed from the park in recent months following the passing of Eos, an unwell beluga the caretakers had to humanely kill. She said the facility believed details of the incident were shared to the media and she was let go soon after.

The ambiguity over the whales’ outcome has left Burgess and staff members in anguish. She says the park’s warning to end the lives of its whales is a leverage tool and is a “logistically impossible” undertaking, adding any attempts to put down even a one beluga would require “immense manpower”, trucks and specialized tools.

“There’s no way in hell the caretakers would ever do it,” she said.

She advocates for demands for the whales to be transferred right away from the facility, with its deteriorating pools and dwindling staff.

In the autumn, the nation’s fisheries minister denied a request to transfer the whales to China.

“Allowing the application would have meant a perpetual situation in enclosure and a reversion to display for amusement,” the official wrote. “As the public, we know that whales belong in the sea, not in pools for our entertainment. I could not in clear conscience approve an relocation that would continue the conditions these belugas have experienced.”

But Burgess said the official’s remarks indicate a wider incorrect perception of the circumstances of living conditions for belugas raised in confinement.

“The society needs to understand these are whales that have existed solely in captivity and they will need ongoing assistance for the foreseeable future,” she said. “The public just don’t comprehend that it’s not as easy as saying ‘shut it down’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Continuing Discussion

As authorities work to find a solution, suggestions have been put forward, some of which have little basis in reality. An idea called for the belugas to be released into the wilds of northern regions – where whales are a key source of food for Indigenous peoples.

A proposed protected area in the region of eastern Canada, which has received government approval, has been most controversial. The future site, which includes a large area of penned in ocean, remains undeveloped. Proponents remain positive that it could in time represent a permanent resolution for some of the whales.

But, Burgess says, among caretakers she’s consulted, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “merely an untested concept” in the whales’ future.

Others say the possibility of a protected habitat indicates a broader global shift away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a viable solution in the coming months.

An official, leader of the initiative, said the location will mimic the cognitive activities and diet the whales get from specialists, albeit in a significantly bigger environment. He said after the well-being of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|