🔗 Share this article

Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie is an charming small “sweetheart”. Orion – called “Onion Ring” – is a big but guardian-like friend. Another whale, Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and sways like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “loving presence” with a gentle spirit.

A group of thirty captive marine mammals in a Canada-based entertainment facility have been caught in a struggle between a shuttered park, government authorities and welfare campaigners.

But those closest to the whales say the impassioned controversy over their fate often fails to consider the nuances of the whales who, after growing up in captivity, have been carefully observed by the people who see them each day.

After the national authorities prevented the sale of the belugas to China, the struggling facility near the famous falls where they are kept stated it would consider to put them down unless the authorities pays for the cost of keeping them alive. Canada’s fisheries minister has refused that request, placing the thirty whales in an increasingly precarious position.

Intelligent Sea Creatures

Researchers say that beluga whales’ neural makeup, along with their sound replication, intellectual tasks and social skills point to they are deeply intelligent creatures – something one caretaker observed first-hand.

She spent a significant period as a whale caretaker, a position that required building relationships of the aquatic animals.

“Establishing those connections over time takes a lot of dedication and a lot of affection. At the beginning, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “Eventually, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so wonderful and fulfilling.”

The trainer knew the whales were exceptionally cognitive, but she says she was even so astounded by the nuances and idiosyncrasies in their dispositions. She formed a particular love for a pair of whales with different personalities.

“One whale chose me. Cleo required effort,” she said. “Each altered the way I understand connection.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

Her connection with the whales developed against a background of rising activist criticism to their captivity.

During her tenure at the park, multiple belugas and the park’s one orca, Kiska, died. In all, nineteen belugas have perished at the park since recent years, a toll which the facility attributes to natural mortality, but which campaigners say points to the substandard environment in which they were maintained.

The facility did not operate to the guests over the recent season, but the former trainer says she saw with her own eyes results of the closure. “Concrete is deteriorating from the tanks because they’re falling apart and not being repaired. The whales are exploratory and so they take pieces and navigate with chunks in their mouth. It’s distressing to see.”

The park did not respond to a inquiry, but earlier asserted: “The whales … receive far better veterinary services and 24/7 supervision than any person in the Britain, or anywhere else.”

Uncertain Future and Potential Resolutions

Burgess was dismissed from the park in recent months following the passing of a beluga, an unwell beluga the caretakers had to put down. She said the park believed particulars of the incident were leaked to the press and she was released not long after.

The ambiguity over the whales’ future has left her and current and former trainers in despair. She says the park’s threat to end the lives of its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “extremely difficult” undertaking, adding any attempts to humanely kill even a single beluga would require “immense personnel”, equipment and specialized tools.

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

She supports calls for the whales to be transferred immediately from the facility, with its failing enclosures and shrinking team.

In the autumn, the nation’s fisheries minister rejected a bid to transfer the whales to China.

“To approve the application would have meant a perpetual existence in confinement and a reversion to performance for audiences,” the minister stated. “As Canadians, we know that belugas are meant for the wild, not in pools for our enjoyment. I could not in good conscience permit an transfer that would perpetuate the situation these belugas have suffered.”

But Burgess said the minister’s remarks indicate a broader lack of awareness of the circumstances of life for belugas raised in confinement.

“The people needs to realize these are whales that have existed solely in confinement and they will need human care for the foreseeable future,” she said. “People just don’t understand that it’s not as straightforward as saying ‘end operations’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Continuing Discussion

As authorities struggle to find a resolution, ideas have emerged, some of which have questionable practicality. One proposal called for the belugas to be freed into the open waters of Canada’s north – where whales are a important part of food for Inuit communities.

A proposed refuge in the region of eastern Canada, which has received regulatory clearance, has proven highly debated. The prospective facility, which includes extensive space of protected cove, is not yet built. Proponents remain hopeful that it could eventually represent a long term solution for some of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among trainers she’s consulted, there is “skepticism there” about what she said is “simply an experiment” in the whales’ future.

Different voices say the prospect of a protected habitat represents a broader global shift away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a feasible approach in the coming months.

Charles Vinick, director of the sanctuary project, said the location will replicate the intellectual stimulation and feeding regimen the whales get from caretakers, albeit in a much larger area. He said after the health of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|