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Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an charming small “playful character”. The whale Orion – nicknamed “Onion” – is a sizeable but fiercely protective companion. Another whale, Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and wiggles like a wiggly creature. Lillooet is the “loving presence” with a heart of gold.

A group of thirty captive marine mammals in a Canadian entertainment facility have been entangled in a struggle between a defunct facility, government authorities and welfare campaigners.

But those working directly with the whales say the heated debate over their fate often overlooks the nuances of the whales who, after living their entire lives in captivity, have been carefully observed by the humans who see them each day.

After the national authorities prevented the transfer of the belugas to a foreign facility, the struggling amusement park near the famous falls where they are kept threatened to end their lives unless the government funds the upkeep of keeping them alive. Canada’s marine resources official has denied that demand, placing the thirty whales in an dangerously unstable circumstance.

Intelligent Sea Creatures

Researchers say that beluga whales’ neural makeup, along with their sound replication, problem solving and group interactions suggest they are highly cognitive mammals – something Kristy Burgess discovered first-hand.

Burgess spent several years as a beluga trainer, a role that involved building relationships of the marine predators.

“Establishing those relationships over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of care. At the start, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “In time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more open with you. It’s just so magical and rewarding.”

Burgess knew the whales were very smart, but she says she was nonetheless surprised by the details and unique traits in their dispositions. She cultivated a particular love for a pair of whales with different natures.

“Eve chose me. The other required effort,” she said. “Both transformed the way I understand relationships.”

Growing Opposition and Facility Decline

Her relationship with the whales developed against a backdrop of rising activist criticism to their enclosure.

During her three years at the attraction, multiple belugas and the park’s one killer whale, the orca, succumbed. In total, nineteen belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a number which the park attributes to natural mortality, but which advocates say indicates the poor conditions in which they were maintained.

The park did not open to the guests over the recent season, but Burgess says she witnessed firsthand effects of the cessation. “Structural materials is deteriorating from the enclosures because they’re in disrepair and not being fixed. The whales are exploratory and so they take pieces and move about with pieces in their mouth. It’s distressing to see.”

The facility did not comment to a questionnaire, but in the past asserted: “The whales … get far higher quality veterinary services and constant supervision than any individual in the United Kingdom, or other places.”

Fate in Limbo and Potential Resolutions

Burgess was fired from the facility in recent months following the death of a beluga, an ailing beluga the caretakers had to put down. She said the park believed information of the death were shared to the press and she was let go not long after.

The uncertainty over the whales’ fate has left Burgess and current and former trainers in distress. She says the facility’s ultimatum to euthanize its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “practically unfeasible” undertaking, adding any efforts to euthanize even a individual beluga would require “considerable manpower”, equipment and heavy equipment.

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

She supports demands for the whales to be transferred promptly from the park, with its deteriorating pools and shrinking team.

In late September, Canada’s fisheries minister turned down a bid to export the whales to China.

“To approve the proposal would have meant a continued situation in enclosure and a return to performance for audiences,” the minister wrote. “As society, we know that whales are meant for the ocean, not in tanks for our amusement. I could not in ethical standing approve an transfer that would continue the treatment these belugas have endured.”

But Burgess said the minister’s statements reveal a more general lack of awareness of the realities of life for belugas born in captivity.

“The people needs to grasp these are whales that have existed solely in enclosed habitats and they will need human care for the foreseeable future,” she said. “People just don’t comprehend that it’s not as simple as saying ‘close it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As authorities work to find a answer, ideas have surfaced, some of which have little basis in reality. An idea called for the belugas to be freed into the open waters of Canada’s north – where whales are a primary resource of nourishment for Inuit communities.

A proposed refuge in the province of eastern Canada, which now received regulatory clearance, has been most controversial. The prospective site, which includes extensive space of protected cove, remains undeveloped. Supporters remain hopeful that it could eventually represent a long term answer for eight of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among staff she’s consulted, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “simply an trial” in the whales’ well-being.

Some experts say the idea of a refuge represents a worldwide trend away from captive facilities and could represent a feasible solution in the short term.

Charles Vinick, director of the plan, said the location will simulate the intellectual stimulation and diet the whales obtain from specialists, albeit in a much larger environment. He said after the health of whales is thoroughly evaluated, which could take months|an extended period|