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Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an adorable little “playful character”. The whale Orion – nicknamed “Onion” – is a sizeable but very loyal companion. Another whale, Zephyr has “endless energy” and sways like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “loving presence” with a kind nature.

A group of thirty captive marine mammals in a Canadian entertainment facility have been caught in a struggle between a shuttered park, government authorities and advocacy groups.

But those working directly with the whales say the impassioned debate over their destiny often ignores the complexities of the whales who, after growing up in confinement, have been thoroughly researched by the people who interact with them daily.

After the federal government blocked the export of the belugas to China, the struggling amusement park near the famous falls where they are housed threatened to end their lives unless the authorities pays for the upkeep of their care. The nation’s marine resources official has rejected that ultimatum, placing the 30 whales in an ever more uncertain position.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Experts say that belugas’ neural makeup, along with their vocal imitation skills, problem solving and communal behavior point to they are deeply intelligent animals – something a former trainer discovered directly.

She spent three years as a whale caretaker, a position that entailed gaining confidence of the sea creatures.

“Establishing those bonds over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of love. At the outset, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “In time, you gain reciprocal understanding. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so extraordinary and gratifying.”

Burgess knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nonetheless surprised by the subtleties and quirks in their dispositions. She cultivated a deep bond for two female belugas with opposing personalities.

“Eve chose me. The other made me earn it,” she said. “Both transformed the way I view bonding.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

Burgess’s connection with the whales developed against a context of growing public opposition to their confinement.

During her time at the attraction, multiple belugas and the park’s one orca, the orca, passed away. In total, nineteen belugas have died at the park since 2019, a toll which the facility ascribes to natural mortality, but which advocates say reflects the poor conditions in which they were housed.

The facility did not open to the guests over the recent season, but Burgess says she witnessed firsthand results of the cessation. “Concrete is breaking off from the tanks because they’re in disrepair and not being repaired. The whales are exploratory and so they pick it up and move about with fragments in their mouth. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The facility did not reply to a questionnaire, but previously asserted: “The whales … obtain far superior medical attention and around the clock supervision than any person in the United Kingdom, or anywhere else.”

Uncertain Future and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was dismissed from the park in early March following the passing of Eos, an ailing beluga the employees had to euthanize. She said the facility suspected information of the death were disclosed to the news outlets and she was released soon after.

The uncertainty over the whales’ outcome has left Burgess and staff members in despair. She says the facility’s threat to euthanize its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “logistically impossible” endeavor, adding any efforts to put down even a single beluga would require “immense staff”, equipment and heavy equipment.

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

She backs requests for the whales to be taken immediately from the park, with its failing enclosures and reduced personnel.

In late September, Canada’s fisheries minister denied a request to export the whales to an overseas location.

“Granting the request would have meant a ongoing life in captivity and a reversion to public entertainment,” the minister commented. “As Canadians, we know that belugas are meant for the wild, not in enclosures for our amusement. I could not in ethical standing authorize an relocation that would prolong the treatment these belugas have endured.”

But the former trainer said the official’s comments reveal a more general incorrect perception of the facts of life for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The people needs to realize these are whales that have existed solely in captivity and they will need constant supervision for the foreseeable future,” she said. “Many just don’t comprehend that it’s not as simple as saying ‘close it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As authorities struggle to find a answer, proposals have been put forward, 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 key source of nourishment for Indigenous peoples.

A planned protected area in the province of eastern Canada, which now received government approval, has been highly debated. The planned facility, which includes extensive space of penned in ocean, is not yet built. Proponents remain optimistic that it could in time represent a long term solution for some of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among trainers she’s consulted, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “only an untested concept” in the whales’ future.

Some experts say the prospect of a sanctuary represents a worldwide trend away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a viable approach in the near future.

The project lead, head of the plan, said the site will replicate the intellectual stimulation and nutrition the whales receive from caretakers, albeit in a more expansive environment. He said after the health of whales is thoroughly evaluated, which could take months|an extended period|