🔗 Share this article

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

A group of thirty enclosed marine mammals in a Canadian entertainment facility have become pawns in a tussle between a shuttered park, government authorities and animal rights activists.

But those closest to the whales say the intense debate over their destiny often overlooks the complexities of the whales who, after spending their lives in confinement, have been carefully observed by the humans who work with them regularly.

After the federal government blocked the export of the belugas to China, the controversial attraction near the famous falls where they are held stated it would consider to put them down unless the federal government covers the cost of keeping them alive. The nation’s marine resources official has rejected that demand, placing the thirty whales in an ever more uncertain circumstance.

Intelligent Sea Creatures

Researchers say that beluga whales’ brain structure, along with their vocal imitation skills, cognitive challenges and communal behavior indicate they are highly cognitive animals – something Kristy Burgess observed first-hand.

She spent a significant period as a whale caretaker, a role that involved building relationships of the sea creatures.

“Building up those connections over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of love. At the beginning, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “In time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more open with you. It’s just so wonderful and gratifying.”

The trainer knew the whales were exceptionally cognitive, but she says she was nonetheless surprised by the subtleties and quirks in their personalities. She formed a particular love for Eve and Cleopatra with opposing personalities.

“Eve selected me. The other required effort,” she said. “Each transformed the way I understand bonding.”

Growing Opposition and Facility Decline

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

During her three years at the attraction, seven belugas and the park’s single orca, the orca, succumbed. In all, 19 belugas have died at the park since 2019, a toll which the park attributes to expected lifespan, but which campaigners say points to the inadequate care in which they were kept.

The facility did not admit visitors to the public over the summer, but Burgess says she witnessed firsthand effects of the shutdown. “Structural materials is deteriorating from the tanks because they’re degrading and not being maintained. The whales are inquisitive and so they grab fragments and move about with fragments in their mouth. It’s upsetting to see.”

The park did not respond to a request for comment, but earlier stated: “The whales … get far better medical attention and around the clock care than any individual in the UK, or anywhere else.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was fired from the facility in the spring following the passing of Eos, an unwell beluga the employees had to humanely kill. She said the facility thought particulars of the incident were disclosed to the press and she was released shortly thereafter.

The ambiguity over the whales’ outcome has left Burgess and staff members in anguish. She says the facility’s warning to kill its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “logistically impossible” undertaking, adding any attempts to euthanize even a single beluga would require “immense manpower”, equipment and machinery.

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

She supports demands for the whales to be transferred right away from the park, with its failing enclosures and reduced personnel.

In recent months, the nation’s government official turned down a request to transfer the whales to an overseas location.

“Granting the request would have meant a ongoing life in confinement and a return to display for amusement,” the minister wrote. “As the public, we know that belugas should be in the ocean, not in enclosures for our entertainment. I could not in clear conscience authorize an export that would prolong the conditions these belugas have endured.”

But Burgess said the minister’s statements indicate a more general incorrect perception of the circumstances of living conditions for belugas raised in confinement.

“The society needs to understand these are whales that have existed solely in enclosed habitats and they will need constant supervision for the foreseeable future,” she said. “The public just don’t realize that it’s not as easy as saying ‘end operations’.”

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As authorities work to find a solution, suggestions have emerged, some of which have questionable practicality. An idea called for the belugas to be let go into the open waters of Canada’s north – where whales are a primary resource of sustenance for Inuit communities.

A proposed refuge in the province of eastern Canada, which recently received official endorsement, has been most controversial. The future facility, which includes 100 acres of penned in ocean, remains undeveloped. Supporters remain positive that it could eventually represent a long term answer 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 refuge represents a changing attitudes away from captive facilities and could represent a workable approach in the short term.

An official, leader of the plan, said the site will mimic the intellectual stimulation and nutrition the whales obtain from caretakers, albeit in a significantly bigger space. He said after the medical condition of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|