🔗 Share this article

Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie is an adorable little “playful character”. The whale Orion – nicknamed “Onion” – is a large but fiercely protective companion. Another whale, Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and moves like a wiggly creature. Lillooet is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a heart of gold.

A group of thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canadian amusement park have been entangled in a struggle between a shuttered park, public officials and welfare campaigners.

But those working directly with the whales say the intense controversy over their destiny often overlooks the complexities of the whales who, after growing up in captivity, have been carefully observed by the caretakers who interact with them daily.

After the national authorities prevented the transfer of the belugas to a foreign facility, the controversial attraction near Niagara Falls where they are kept threatened to end their lives unless the federal government covers the expense of their care. The nation’s marine resources official has rejected that request, placing the thirty whales in an ever more uncertain position.

Highly Cognitive Sea Creatures

Scientists say that beluga whales’ neural makeup, along with their mimicry abilities, cognitive challenges and social skills point to they are remarkably smart creatures – something one caretaker discovered personally.

She spent a significant period as a beluga trainer, a job that entailed building relationships of the marine predators.

“Developing those bonds over time takes a lot of regularity and a lot of affection. At the outset, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “Over time, you gain shared confidence. And they start being more open with you. It’s just so wonderful and gratifying.”

Burgess knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nonetheless astounded by the subtleties and idiosyncrasies in their personalities. She formed a particular love for a pair of whales with opposing personalities.

“Eve chose me. Cleo required effort,” she said. “Each changed the way I perceive bonding.”

Growing Opposition and Facility Decline

Her interaction with the whales evolved against a background of rising activist criticism to their confinement.

During her three years at the attraction, multiple belugas and the park’s single killer whale, the orca, passed away. In all, nineteen belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a number which the park ascribes to expected lifespan, but which advocates say indicates the substandard environment in which they were maintained.

The facility did not open to the visitors over the recent season, but Burgess says she saw with her own eyes consequences of the closure. “Concrete is falling apart from the enclosures because they’re falling apart and not being fixed. The whales are exploratory and so they grab fragments and swim around with chunks in their jaws. It’s distressing to see.”

The park did not comment to a inquiry, but in the past claimed: “The whales … get far higher quality health care and constant supervision than any individual in the United Kingdom, or other places.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

Burgess was fired from the facility 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 let go not long after.

The ambiguity over the whales’ future has left Burgess and staff members in anguish. She says the facility’s threat to euthanize its whales is a negotiation tactic and is a “logistically impossible” undertaking, adding any attempts to humanely kill even a single beluga would require “considerable staff”, equipment and specialized tools.

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

Burgess backs calls for the whales to be transferred promptly from the park, with its failing enclosures and reduced personnel.

In recent months, Canada’s fisheries minister rejected a bid to export the whales to an overseas location.

“Granting the request would have meant a continued situation in enclosure and a return to display for amusement,” the minister wrote. “As society, we know that whales are meant for the sea, not in pools for our entertainment. I could not in ethical standing permit an export that would prolong the situation these belugas have experienced.”

But Burgess said the minister’s statements indicate a more general misunderstanding of the realities of living conditions for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The public needs to realize these are whales that have spent their whole lives in captivity and they will need constant supervision for the foreseeable future,” she said. “People just don’t comprehend that it’s not as easy as saying ‘shut it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As authorities struggle to find a solution, proposals have emerged, some of which have little basis in reality. An idea called for the belugas to be released into the open waters of Canada’s north – where whales are a key source of sustenance for Inuit communities.

A suggested sanctuary in the province of Nova Scotia, which now received government approval, has shown to be highly debated. The prospective location, which includes 100 acres of penned in ocean, remains undeveloped. Supporters remain positive that it could ultimately represent a long term answer for some of the whales.

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

Some experts say the prospect of a protected habitat indicates a changing attitudes away from captive facilities and could represent a feasible solution in the short term.

The project lead, leader of the sanctuary project, said the location will replicate the intellectual stimulation and feeding regimen the whales get from specialists, albeit in a more expansive environment. He said after the medical condition of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|