🔗 Share this article

The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an adorable small “sweetheart”. The whale Orion – nicknamed “Onion” – is a big but very loyal companion. Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and moves like a worm. Lillooet is the “most affectionate” with a gentle spirit.

A group of thirty captive beluga whales in a Canadian entertainment facility have been caught in a disagreement between a defunct facility, government authorities and advocacy groups.

But those closest to the whales say the impassioned debate over their fate often fails to consider the nuances of the whales who, after growing up in enclosed habitats, have been carefully observed by the people who work with them regularly.

After the Canadian government disallowed the transfer of the belugas to a foreign facility, the controversial amusement park near the famous falls where they are housed warned to put them down unless the government funds the expense of keeping them alive. The nation’s fisheries minister has refused that request, placing the 30 whales in an ever more uncertain circumstance.

Intelligent Sea Creatures

Scientists say that beluga whales’ neuroanatomy, along with their mimicry abilities, intellectual tasks and social skills suggest they are highly cognitive creatures – something Kristy Burgess discovered first-hand.

Burgess spent three years as a marine mammal specialist, a position that involved earning the trust of the aquatic animals.

“Developing those bonds over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of love. At the outset, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “Eventually, you gain reciprocal understanding. And they start being more trusting with you. It’s just so magical and gratifying.”

The trainer knew the whales were very smart, but she says she was nevertheless surprised by the details and unique traits in their personalities. She cultivated a particular love for two female belugas with different temperaments.

“One whale selected me. Cleo demanded work,” she said. “Both altered the way I perceive bonding.”

Growing Opposition and Facility Decline

Her connection with the whales developed against a backdrop of rising activist criticism to their confinement.

During her time at the attraction, multiple belugas and the park’s one orca, Kiska, passed away. In total, nineteen belugas have died at the park since recent years, a toll which the facility attributes to natural mortality, but which activists say indicates the poor conditions in which they were maintained.

The park did not admit visitors to the public over the recent season, but Burgess says she observed directly results of the shutdown. “Concrete is breaking off from the enclosures because they’re in disrepair and not being maintained. The whales are exploratory and so they take pieces and move about with fragments in their mouth. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The park did not reply to a inquiry, but earlier claimed: “The whales … get far higher quality medical attention and around the clock attention than any person in the Britain, or anywhere else.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was terminated from the park in the spring following the demise of Eos, an unwell beluga the employees had to humanely kill. She said the facility suspected information of the death were shared to the media and she was let go shortly thereafter.

The uncertainty over the whales’ future has left her and other caretakers in anguish. She says the park’s threat to kill its whales is a negotiation tactic and is a “practically unfeasible” endeavor, adding any plans to put down even a individual beluga would require “immense personnel”, equipment and machinery.

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

Burgess advocates for calls for the whales to be transferred promptly from the facility, with its deteriorating pools and shrinking team.

In recent months, the nation’s fisheries minister turned down a proposal to transfer the whales to China.

“To approve the request would have meant a ongoing existence in confinement and a reversion to public entertainment,” the minister stated. “As Canadians, we know that marine mammals are meant for the ocean, not in tanks for our enjoyment. I could not in clear conscience approve an relocation that would prolong the situation these belugas have endured.”

But Burgess said the minister’s comments reflect a broader incorrect perception of the realities of life for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The public needs to realize these are whales that have existed solely in confinement and they will need constant supervision for the remainder of their lives,” she said. “The public just don’t realize that it’s not as straightforward as saying ‘end operations’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Continuing Discussion

As authorities attempt to find a solution, ideas have emerged, some of which have minimal feasibility. A suggested plan called for the belugas to be let go into the natural habitat of northern regions – where whales are a primary resource of food for Inuit communities.

A suggested sanctuary in the province of eastern Canada, which has received official endorsement, has proven highly debated. The future facility, which includes 100 acres of protected cove, doesn’t yet exist. Advocates remain optimistic that it could ultimately represent a long term resolution for eight of the whales.

But, Burgess says, among trainers she’s consulted, there is “doubts there” about what she said is “merely an untested concept” in the whales’ well-being.

Others say the prospect of a sanctuary indicates a broader global shift away from animal displays and could represent a feasible approach in the near future.

The project lead, head of the sanctuary project, said the site will replicate the intellectual stimulation and diet the whales receive from trainers, albeit in a significantly bigger space. He said after the well-being of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|