🔗 Share this article

The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an charming little “playful character”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion Ring” – is a large but fiercely protective companion. Zephyr has “constant motion” and wiggles like a worm. Lillooet is the “loving presence” with a kind nature.

A group of thirty captive beluga whales in a Canadian entertainment facility have been entangled in a struggle between a closed attraction, local and national governments and advocacy groups.

But those closest to the whales say the impassioned controversy over their future often fails to consider the complexities of the whales who, after spending their lives in confinement, have been thoroughly researched by the humans who see them each day.

After the federal government blocked the transfer of the belugas to China, the embattled attraction near the famous falls where they are housed threatened to put them down unless the federal government covers the upkeep of keeping them alive. The nation’s marine resources official has denied that ultimatum, placing the thirty whales in an dangerously unstable position.

Intelligent Marine Mammals

Experts say that beluga whales’ brain structure, along with their vocal imitation skills, intellectual tasks and social skills point to they are remarkably smart mammals – something one caretaker learned first-hand.

She spent several years as a beluga trainer, a job that entailed earning the trust of the aquatic animals.

“Developing those connections over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of affection. At the beginning, they’re very unsure of you,” she said. “In time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more trusting with you. It’s just so extraordinary and rewarding.”

Burgess knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nonetheless amazed by the details and unique traits in their characters. She formed a deep bond for a pair of whales with opposing natures.

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

Public Concerns and Deteriorating Conditions

Her relationship with the whales evolved against a context of growing public opposition to their confinement.

During her time at the attraction, multiple belugas and the park’s one killer whale, Kiska, succumbed. In all, 19 belugas have died at the park since 2019, a toll which the park links to natural mortality, but which activists say indicates the substandard environment in which they were housed.

The park did not open to the public over the recent season, but Burgess says she saw with her own eyes results of the shutdown. “Concrete is deteriorating from the enclosures because they’re degrading and not being fixed. The whales are exploratory and so they grab fragments and navigate with chunks in their mouth. It’s distressing to see.”

The park did not reply to a questionnaire, but in the past asserted: “The whales … receive far better medical attention and constant attention than any human in the UK, or anywhere else.”

Fate in Limbo and Potential Resolutions

Burgess was fired from the park in early March following the demise of a beluga, an unwell beluga the caretakers had to euthanize. She said the facility believed details of the incident were shared to the media and she was fired not long after.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ fate has left her and other caretakers in distress. She says the park’s warning to end the lives of its whales is a negotiation tactic and is a “extremely difficult” endeavor, adding any plans to humanely kill even a individual beluga would require “immense staff”, trucks and specialized tools.

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

Burgess advocates for requests for the whales to be transferred immediately from the facility, with its deteriorating pools and dwindling staff.

In recent months, Canada’s fisheries minister denied a bid to transfer the whales to an overseas location.

“Allowing the request would have meant a perpetual existence in enclosure and a return to public entertainment,” the minister commented. “As the public, we know that marine mammals should be in the ocean, not in enclosures for our entertainment. I could not in good conscience authorize an export that would perpetuate the treatment these belugas have suffered.”

But the former trainer said the minister’s statements indicate a wider lack of awareness of the facts of life for belugas raised in confinement.

“The public needs to grasp these are whales that have spent their whole lives in enclosed habitats and they will need ongoing assistance for the foreseeable future,” she said. “People just don’t comprehend that it’s not as straightforward as saying ‘end operations’.”

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As decision makers struggle to find a resolution, proposals have surfaced, some of which have minimal feasibility. A suggested plan called for the belugas to be released into the open waters of the Arctic – where whales are a key source of sustenance for Indigenous peoples.

A proposed protected area in the region of Nova Scotia, which now received government approval, has shown to be contentious. The future facility, which includes a large area of penned in ocean, doesn’t yet exist. Supporters remain optimistic that it could eventually represent a long term resolution for a number of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among caretakers she’s discussed with, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “merely an untested concept” in the whales’ fate.

Others say the idea of a protected habitat represents a broader global shift away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a viable solution in the near future.

An official, director of the plan, said the facility will replicate the cognitive activities and diet the whales get from caretakers, albeit in a significantly bigger space. He said after the health of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|