🔗 Share this article

The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie is an cute small “sweetheart”. Orion – called “Onion Ring” – is a sizeable but very loyal friend. Another whale, Zephyr has “endless energy” and sways like a worm. Lillooet the beluga is the “most affectionate” with a kind nature.

Thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canadian amusement park have been entangled in a struggle between a defunct facility, public officials and advocacy groups.

But those closest to the whales say the intense debate over their destiny often overlooks the nuances of the whales who, after growing up in captivity, have been thoroughly researched by the people who see them each day.

After the national authorities blocked the sale of the belugas to a foreign facility, the embattled attraction near Niagara Falls where they are kept stated it would consider to euthanize them unless the authorities pays for the cost of keeping them alive. Canada’s marine resources official has rejected that demand, placing the thirty whales in an increasingly precarious position.

Highly Cognitive Sea Creatures

Researchers say that belugas’ brain structure, along with their mimicry abilities, cognitive challenges and communal behavior suggest they are deeply intelligent creatures – something one caretaker observed directly.

Burgess spent a significant period as a marine mammal specialist, a job that entailed earning the trust of the marine predators.

“Establishing those bonds over time takes a lot of dedication and a lot of affection. At the start, they’re very unsure of you,” she said. “Over time, you gain shared confidence. And they start being more open with you. It’s just so wonderful and gratifying.”

The trainer knew the whales were exceptionally cognitive, but she says she was even so astounded by the details and quirks in their personalities. She developed a particular love for a pair of whales with opposing natures.

“Eve selected me. The other demanded work,” she said. “They altered the way I understand connection.”

Growing Opposition and Deteriorating Conditions

Her interaction with the whales evolved against a backdrop of growing public opposition to their captivity.

During her three years at the attraction, seven belugas and the park’s one orca, Kiska, died. In all, nineteen belugas have died at the park since recent years, a toll which the facility attributes to age-related causes, but which advocates say indicates the substandard environment in which they were maintained.

The facility did not operate to the visitors over the summer, but Burgess says she saw with her own eyes effects of the cessation. “Concrete is breaking off from the tanks because they’re falling apart and not being repaired. The whales are curious and so they grab fragments and swim around 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 … get far superior medical attention and around the clock care than any individual in the UK, or other places.”

Uncertain Future and Proposed Solutions

Burgess was dismissed from the facility in the spring following the death of Eos, an sick beluga the park staff had to euthanize. She said the facility believed details of the death were leaked to the press and she was fired soon after.

The uncertainty over the whales’ outcome has left her and staff members in anguish. She says the park’s ultimatum to end the lives of its whales is a leverage tool and is a “practically unfeasible” task, adding any plans to put down even a individual beluga would require “considerable manpower”, trucks and machinery.

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

She backs requests for the whales to be taken promptly from the park, with its failing enclosures and dwindling staff.

In recent months, Canada’s fisheries minister turned down a request to export the whales to an overseas location.

“To approve the proposal would have meant a continued situation in confinement and a return to public entertainment,” the official stated. “As the public, we know that marine mammals are meant for the wild, not in tanks for our enjoyment. I could not in ethical standing approve an export that would perpetuate the situation these belugas have suffered.”

But Burgess said the official’s remarks indicate a wider misunderstanding of the circumstances of existence for belugas born in captivity.

“The people needs to grasp these are whales that have existed solely in confinement and they will need constant supervision for the foreseeable future,” she said. “Many just don’t understand that it’s not as easy as saying ‘end operations’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Continuing Discussion

As authorities struggle to find a resolution, ideas have emerged, some of which have minimal feasibility. A suggested plan called for the belugas to be let go into the wilds of the Arctic – where whales are a primary resource of food for Inuit communities.

A proposed protected area in the region of eastern Canada, which recently received official endorsement, has been contentious. The future location, which includes extensive space of penned in ocean, is not yet built. Supporters remain positive that it could ultimately represent a long term resolution for some of the whales.

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

Some experts say the possibility of a sanctuary reflects a changing attitudes away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a viable plan in the near future.

Charles Vinick, director of the plan, said the site will simulate the mental engagement and feeding regimen the whales obtain from trainers, albeit in a much larger area. He said after the medical condition of whales is thoroughly evaluated, which could take months|an extended period|