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Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an cute small “sweetheart”. Orion – called “Onion” – is a big but fiercely protective friend. Another whale, Zephyr has “constant motion” and moves like a worm. Lillooet the beluga is the “most affectionate” with a heart of gold.

A group of thirty captive marine mammals in a Canada-based amusement park have been entangled in a tussle between a defunct facility, local and national governments and advocacy groups.

But those working directly with the whales say the heated debate over their fate often fails to consider the complexities of the whales who, after spending their lives in enclosed habitats, have been carefully observed by the people who interact with them daily.

After the federal government prevented the sale of the belugas to a foreign facility, the embattled amusement park near Niagara Falls where they are housed stated it would consider to end their lives unless the federal government pays for the upkeep of their survival. The nation’s marine resources official has rejected that demand, placing the thirty whales in an increasingly precarious position.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Experts say that beluga whales’ neuroanatomy, along with their sound replication, cognitive challenges and group interactions point to they are deeply intelligent animals – something Kristy Burgess discovered first-hand.

Burgess spent several years as a whale caretaker, a role that required earning the trust of the aquatic animals.

“Building up those connections over time takes a lot of dedication and a lot of care. At the beginning, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “Over time, you gain reciprocal understanding. And they start being more trusting with you. It’s just so magical and fulfilling.”

Burgess knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was even so surprised by the details and quirks in their characters. She cultivated a particular love for two female belugas with different natures.

“Eve chose me. The other made me earn it,” she said. “They changed the way I view relationships.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

Her interaction with the whales progressed against a background of growing public opposition to their enclosure.

During her tenure at the facility, seven belugas and the park’s one orca, the orca, succumbed. In all, 19 belugas have died at the park since 2019, a number which the facility attributes to age-related causes, but which advocates say indicates the inadequate care in which they were maintained.

The facility did not open to the guests over the recent season, but Burgess says she witnessed firsthand results of the closure. “Concrete is deteriorating from the tanks because they’re in disrepair and not being maintained. The whales are exploratory and so they take pieces and swim around with fragments in their mouth. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The facility did not comment to a inquiry, but in the past stated: “The whales … obtain far superior health care and constant attention than any human in the United Kingdom, or elsewhere.”

Uncertain Future and Potential Resolutions

The former employee was fired from the park in early March following the death of a beluga, an unwell beluga the park staff had to put down. She said the facility suspected details of the incident were leaked to the press and she was let go shortly thereafter.

The uncertainty over the whales’ outcome has left her and other caretakers in anguish. She says the park’s warning to euthanize its whales is a leverage tool and is a “practically unfeasible” endeavor, adding any attempts to humanely kill even a one beluga would require “considerable staff”, equipment and machinery.

“There’s no way in hell the staff would ever do it,” she said.

Burgess advocates for requests for the whales to be removed promptly from the park, with its failing enclosures and shrinking team.

In the autumn, Canada’s fisheries minister turned down a request to send the whales to an overseas location.

“To approve the proposal would have meant a ongoing situation in enclosure and a reversion to public entertainment,” the official commented. “As society, we know that belugas are meant for the ocean, not in tanks for our entertainment. I could not in ethical standing approve an export that would perpetuate the treatment these belugas have endured.”

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

“The society needs to grasp these are whales that have spent their whole lives in confinement and they will need constant supervision for the rest of their years,” she said. “The public just don’t understand that it’s not as simple as saying ‘shut it down’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Continuing Discussion

As decision makers work to find a answer, suggestions have been put forward, some of which have minimal feasibility. One proposal called for the belugas to be let go into the natural habitat of the Arctic – where whales are a primary resource of food for local populations.

A proposed sanctuary in the province of eastern Canada, which has received official endorsement, has been contentious. The planned facility, which includes 100 acres of protected cove, is not yet built. Proponents remain hopeful that it could ultimately represent a long term resolution for some of the whales.

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

Different voices say the possibility of a protected habitat indicates a worldwide trend away from animal displays and could represent a feasible solution in the near future.

An official, head of the plan, said the site will mimic the cognitive activities and feeding regimen the whales receive from trainers, albeit in a more expansive environment. He said after the health of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|