🔗 Share this article

The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie Botts is an cute little “sweetheart”. The whale Orion – called “Onion Ring” – is a big but very loyal companion. Zephyr has “constant motion” and sways like a wiggly creature. Lillooet is the “most affectionate” with a gentle spirit.

A group of thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canadian amusement park have been caught in a tussle between a defunct facility, public officials and advocacy groups.

But those most familiar with the whales say the impassioned discussion over their future often fails to consider the individual traits of the whales who, after living their entire lives in confinement, have been thoroughly researched by the people who interact with them daily.

After the Canadian government blocked the transfer of the belugas to China, the embattled amusement park near Niagara Falls where they are kept warned to end their lives unless the federal government pays for the cost of their care. The nation’s fisheries minister has rejected that demand, placing the thirty whales in an ever more uncertain position.

Intelligent Marine Mammals

Researchers say that belugas’ brain structure, along with their sound replication, problem solving and communal behavior point to they are highly cognitive animals – something a former trainer learned first-hand.

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

“Building up those bonds over time takes a lot of regularity and a lot of love. At the outset, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “In time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more open with you. It’s just so magical and fulfilling.”

The trainer knew the whales were exceptionally cognitive, but she says she was nonetheless surprised by the nuances and idiosyncrasies in their characters. She cultivated a deep bond for a pair of whales with different personalities.

“One whale accepted me. Cleo made me earn it,” she said. “Each altered the way I perceive relationships.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

Her interaction with the whales progressed against a background of increasing societal concern to their enclosure.

During her three years at the facility, seven belugas and the park’s single killer whale, Kiska, succumbed. In all, nineteen belugas have died at the park since recent years, a statistic which the park ascribes to age-related causes, but which campaigners say indicates the poor conditions in which they were maintained.

The park did not operate to the visitors over the recent season, but Burgess says she witnessed firsthand consequences of the cessation. “Structural materials is deteriorating from the tanks because they’re falling apart and not being repaired. The whales are inquisitive and so they grab fragments and navigate with chunks in their jaws. It’s distressing to see.”

The facility did not respond to a request for comment, but earlier stated: “The whales … receive far superior health care and constant care than any individual in the UK, or other places.”

Fate in Limbo and Potential Resolutions

The former employee was fired from the park in early March following the demise of Eos, an unwell beluga the park staff had to euthanize. She said the facility believed details of the incident were leaked to the press and she was fired not long after.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ fate has left Burgess and current and former trainers in despair. She says the park’s warning to kill its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “extremely difficult” undertaking, adding any efforts to humanely kill even a individual beluga would require “immense personnel”, trucks and heavy equipment.

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

Burgess backs calls for the whales to be removed right away from the park, with its failing enclosures and dwindling staff.

In the autumn, Canada’s government official turned down a request to send the whales to China.

“Granting the proposal would have meant a ongoing life in enclosure and a reversion to display for amusement,” the official wrote. “As the public, we know that belugas are meant for the ocean, not in pools for our enjoyment. I could not in clear conscience approve an transfer that would perpetuate the conditions these belugas have endured.”

But the former trainer said the official’s comments indicate a wider lack of awareness of the facts of living conditions for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The public needs to grasp these are whales that have lived entirely in confinement and they will need human care for the remainder of their lives,” she said. “People just don’t understand that it’s not as straightforward as saying ‘close it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As decision makers work to find a solution, ideas have surfaced, some of which have questionable practicality. 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 nourishment for local populations.

A suggested sanctuary in the province of eastern Canada, which has received regulatory clearance, has been contentious. The future location, which includes a large area of penned in ocean, doesn’t yet exist. Supporters remain optimistic that it could in time represent a long term solution for a number of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among caretakers she’s discussed with, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “merely an trial” in the whales’ well-being.

Some experts say the idea of a sanctuary represents a changing attitudes away from animal displays and could represent a feasible plan in the near future.

An official, head of the sanctuary project, said the facility will replicate the cognitive activities and feeding regimen the whales obtain from trainers, albeit in a significantly bigger area. He said after the medical condition of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|