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Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie Botts is an cute little “playful character”. The whale Orion – nicknamed “Onion Ring” – is a sizeable but guardian-like companion. Another whale, Zephyr has “endless energy” and moves like a worm. Lillooet is the “most affectionate” with a kind nature.

Thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canada-based entertainment facility have become pawns in a disagreement between a closed attraction, government authorities and welfare campaigners.

But those most familiar with the whales say the intense debate over their destiny often overlooks the complexities of the whales who, after spending their lives in captivity, have been closely studied by the caretakers who see them each day.

After the federal government prevented the export of the belugas to China, the embattled attraction near the famous falls where they are kept threatened to put them down unless the government covers the upkeep of keeping them alive. The nation’s marine resources official has rejected that demand, placing the thirty whales in an ever more uncertain position.

Intelligent Marine Mammals

Scientists say that beluga whales’ neural makeup, along with their sound replication, intellectual tasks and social skills suggest they are remarkably smart mammals – something Kristy Burgess observed first-hand.

Burgess spent a significant period as a marine mammal specialist, a role that involved building relationships of the aquatic animals.

“Building up those bonds over time takes a lot of regularity and a lot of affection. At the start, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “In time, you gain reciprocal understanding. And they start being more trusting with you. It’s just so extraordinary and fulfilling.”

The trainer knew the whales were very smart, but she says she was even so surprised by the details and idiosyncrasies in their personalities. She developed a deep bond for Eve and Cleopatra with contrasting natures.

“One whale selected me. The other made me earn it,” she said. “Both altered the way I perceive connection.”

Growing Opposition and Facility Decline

Burgess’s relationship with the whales progressed against a context of increasing societal concern to their confinement.

During her time at the attraction, multiple belugas and the park’s one orca, the orca, died. In total, nineteen belugas have died at the park since 2019, a statistic which the park attributes to natural mortality, but which advocates say reflects the poor conditions in which they were kept.

The park did not operate to the visitors over the recent season, but Burgess says she witnessed firsthand consequences of the closure. “Structural materials is deteriorating from the enclosures because they’re degrading and not being fixed. The whales are exploratory and so they take pieces and swim around with fragments in their jaws. It’s distressing to see.”

The facility did not reply to a questionnaire, but earlier asserted: “The whales … get far superior health care and around the clock care than any person in the United Kingdom, or elsewhere.”

Fate in Limbo and Potential Resolutions

Burgess was dismissed from the park in early March following the death of a beluga, an sick beluga the employees had to euthanize. She said the facility thought information of the incident were leaked to the media and she was let go not long after.

The ambiguity over the whales’ future has left her and other caretakers in distress. She says the facility’s warning to end the lives of its whales is a leverage tool and is a “practically unfeasible” task, adding any efforts to euthanize even a individual beluga would require “immense personnel”, vehicles and heavy equipment.

“It’s impossible in hell the caretakers would ever do it,” she said.

She backs demands for the whales to be taken immediately from the facility, with its failing enclosures and shrinking team.

In late September, the nation’s fisheries minister rejected a proposal to send the whales to China.

“Granting the request would have meant a ongoing existence in captivity and a return to display for amusement,” the official commented. “As the public, we know that belugas belong in the ocean, not in enclosures for our entertainment. I could not in clear conscience approve an transfer that would continue the conditions these belugas have endured.”

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

“The society needs to understand these are whales that have existed solely in captivity and they will need constant supervision for the rest of their years,” she said. “The public just don’t realize that it’s not as simple as saying ‘end operations’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Continuing Discussion

As decision makers work to find a solution, ideas have been put forward, some of which have questionable practicality. An idea called for the belugas to be freed into the natural habitat of the Arctic – where whales are a primary resource of sustenance for Indigenous peoples.

A proposed refuge in the region of eastern Canada, which now received regulatory clearance, has been contentious. The planned facility, which includes 100 acres of penned in ocean, is not yet built. Supporters remain hopeful that it could in time represent a long term solution for a number of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among trainers she’s consulted, there is “doubts there” about what she said is “merely an untested concept” in the whales’ fate.

Others say the prospect of a refuge reflects a changing attitudes away from captive facilities and could represent a feasible approach in the coming months.

Charles Vinick, head of the sanctuary project, said the location will mimic the cognitive activities and nutrition the whales get from trainers, albeit in a more expansive space. He said after the well-being of whales is thoroughly evaluated, which could take months|an extended period|