🔗 Share this article

Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an cute small “sweetheart”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion Ring” – is a sizeable but guardian-like friend. Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and moves like a wiggly creature. Lillooet is the “most affectionate” with a kind nature.

Thirty captive marine mammals in a Canada-based amusement park have become pawns in a tussle between a closed attraction, local and national governments and welfare campaigners.

But those working directly with the whales say the intense discussion over their future often overlooks the nuances of the whales who, after spending their lives in captivity, have been thoroughly researched by the humans who work with them regularly.

After the national authorities disallowed the sale of the belugas to a foreign facility, the embattled facility near Niagara Falls where they are kept threatened to put them down unless the authorities funds the cost of their survival. Canada’s marine resources official has rejected that request, placing the thirty whales in an ever more uncertain circumstance.

Highly Cognitive Sea Creatures

Scientists say that belugas’ neural makeup, along with their mimicry abilities, problem solving and group interactions indicate they are deeply intelligent creatures – something one caretaker discovered directly.

Burgess spent several years as a beluga trainer, a position that involved gaining confidence of the marine predators.

“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. “Over time, you gain shared confidence. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so wonderful and rewarding.”

The trainer knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was even so surprised by the subtleties and unique traits in their dispositions. She cultivated a particular love for two female belugas with different temperaments.

“Eve accepted me. Cleo demanded work,” she said. “Both changed the way I perceive connection.”

Growing Opposition and Deteriorating Conditions

Burgess’s interaction with the whales evolved against a backdrop of rising activist criticism to their confinement.

During her tenure at the park, multiple belugas and the park’s single killer whale, the orca, died. In total, nineteen belugas have died at the park since 2019, a toll which the facility attributes to age-related causes, but which campaigners say reflects the poor conditions in which they were maintained.

The park did not operate to the public over the summer, but Burgess says she observed directly effects of the closure. “Concrete is falling apart from the enclosures because they’re in disrepair and not being repaired. The whales are exploratory and so they pick it up and move about with chunks in their mouth. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The park did not comment to a questionnaire, but previously stated: “The whales … obtain far superior medical attention and around the clock care than any human in the UK, or elsewhere.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

Burgess was terminated from the facility in early March following the passing of a beluga, an sick beluga the employees had to humanely kill. She said the facility believed particulars of the incident were shared to the media and she was released soon after.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ outcome has left her and current and former trainers in distress. She says the facility’s ultimatum to euthanize its whales is a leverage tool and is a “extremely difficult” task, adding any efforts to put down even a single beluga would require “significant personnel”, equipment and specialized tools.

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

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

In recent months, the nation’s fisheries minister denied a bid to transfer the whales to China.

“Granting the proposal would have meant a ongoing existence in captivity and a return to public entertainment,” the minister wrote. “As the public, we know that belugas should be in the sea, not in tanks for our enjoyment. I could not in good conscience permit an transfer that would continue the treatment these belugas have endured.”

But Burgess said the minister’s remarks reveal a broader misunderstanding of the circumstances of existence for belugas raised in confinement.

“The society needs to realize these are whales that have existed solely in enclosed habitats and they will need constant supervision for the remainder of their lives,” she said. “People just don’t realize that it’s not as easy as saying ‘close it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As decision makers struggle to find a resolution, ideas have been put forward, some of which have little basis in reality. A suggested plan called for the belugas to be released into the wilds of the Arctic – where whales are a key source of nourishment for Inuit communities.

A proposed sanctuary in the province of Nova Scotia, which recently received government approval, has proven contentious. The future site, which includes a large area of protected cove, doesn’t yet exist. Proponents remain optimistic that it could in time represent a sustainable solution for some of the whales.

But, Burgess says, among trainers she’s spoken with, there is “doubts there” about what she said is “only an trial” in the whales’ well-being.

Some experts say the idea of a protected habitat reflects a changing attitudes away from animal displays and could represent a workable plan in the short term.

The project lead, leader of the plan, said the site will replicate the intellectual stimulation and nutrition the whales obtain from caretakers, albeit in a much larger space. He said after the medical condition of whales is thoroughly evaluated, which could take months|an extended period|