🔗 Share this article

The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an charming small “sweetheart”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion” – is a sizeable but fiercely protective friend. Another whale, Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and moves like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “most affectionate” with a gentle spirit.

Thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canadian amusement park have been caught in a tussle between a closed attraction, public officials and welfare campaigners.

But those working directly with the whales say the heated debate over their fate often ignores the individual traits of the whales who, after growing up in enclosed habitats, have been closely studied by the people who interact with them daily.

After the Canadian government prevented the sale of the belugas to a foreign facility, the embattled facility near Niagara Falls where they are held warned to end their lives unless the government funds the expense of their care. The nation’s marine resources official has refused that demand, placing the 30 whales in an increasingly precarious circumstance.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Researchers say that belugas’ brain structure, along with their sound replication, problem solving and social skills indicate they are deeply intelligent creatures – something one caretaker discovered personally.

Burgess spent several years as a beluga trainer, a position that entailed earning the trust of the sea creatures.

“Building up those connections over time takes a lot of regularity and a lot of affection. At the outset, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “Eventually, you gain shared confidence. And they start being more trusting with you. It’s just so extraordinary and fulfilling.”

Burgess knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nonetheless astounded by the nuances and unique traits in their dispositions. She formed a particular love for a pair of whales with contrasting natures.

“One whale accepted me. The other required effort,” she said. “Both transformed the way I view bonding.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

Her relationship with the whales progressed against a context of growing public opposition to their captivity.

During her three years at the facility, seven belugas and the park’s single orca, Kiska, died. In total, nineteen belugas have died at the park since 2019, a number which the facility attributes to natural mortality, but which advocates say points to the inadequate care in which they were housed.

The facility did not admit visitors to the public over the summer, but the former trainer says she observed directly effects of the closure. “Structural materials is breaking off from the tanks because they’re degrading and not being fixed. The whales are exploratory and so they take pieces and navigate with fragments in their mouth. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The park did not reply to a inquiry, but in the past claimed: “The whales … get far higher quality medical attention and 24/7 attention than any person in the United Kingdom, or elsewhere.”

Fate in Limbo and Potential Resolutions

Burgess was dismissed from the park in the spring following the death of Eos, an ailing beluga the caretakers had to euthanize. She said the park suspected particulars of the incident were shared to the press and she was fired soon after.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ future has left her and other caretakers in distress. She says the facility’s warning to end the lives of its whales is a negotiation tactic and is a “extremely difficult” task, adding any efforts to euthanize even a single beluga would require “significant manpower”, trucks and specialized tools.

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

She backs demands for the whales to be removed right away from the facility, with its failing enclosures and shrinking team.

In recent months, the nation’s government official rejected a bid to transfer the whales to China.

“Allowing the application would have meant a perpetual life in captivity and a reversion to display for amusement,” the official stated. “As Canadians, we know that marine mammals are meant for the ocean, not in pools for our entertainment. I could not in clear conscience approve an relocation that would continue the treatment these belugas have suffered.”

But Burgess said the minister’s statements reveal a broader lack of awareness of the facts of life for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The people needs to understand these are whales that have existed solely in confinement and they will need human care for the rest of their years,” she said. “The public just don’t understand that it’s not as simple as saying ‘shut it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As authorities attempt to find a resolution, ideas have surfaced, some of which have little basis in reality. A suggested plan called for the belugas to be let go into the open waters of northern regions – where whales are a primary resource of sustenance for local populations.

A suggested protected area in the region of Nova Scotia, which has received regulatory clearance, has proven highly debated. The planned facility, which includes extensive space of protected cove, is not yet built. Proponents remain hopeful that it could eventually represent a long term resolution for eight of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among trainers she’s consulted, there is “skepticism there” about what she said is “only an experiment” in the whales’ fate.

Different voices say the idea of a sanctuary indicates a worldwide trend away from captive facilities and could represent a workable plan in the near future.

Charles Vinick, head of the plan, said the location will mimic the cognitive activities and diet the whales obtain from caretakers, albeit in a significantly bigger area. He said after the well-being of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|