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The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie is an cute small “sweetheart”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion Ring” – is a large but guardian-like companion. Another whale, Zephyr has “constant motion” and moves like a worm. Lillooet the beluga is the “most affectionate” with a gentle spirit.

A group of thirty enclosed marine mammals in a Canada-based amusement park have been entangled in a disagreement between a closed attraction, local and national governments and animal rights activists.

But those working directly with the whales say the intense debate over their future often ignores the complexities of the whales who, after spending their lives in confinement, have been carefully observed by the people who interact with them daily.

After the national authorities disallowed the export of the belugas to a foreign facility, the struggling attraction near the famous falls where they are kept threatened to euthanize them unless the authorities covers the cost of keeping them alive. Canada’s marine resources official has refused that ultimatum, placing the thirty whales in an ever more uncertain position.

Intelligent Sea Creatures

Researchers say that beluga whales’ brain structure, along with their sound replication, intellectual tasks and communal behavior indicate they are highly cognitive mammals – something a former trainer learned personally.

She spent several years as a beluga trainer, a position that required earning the trust of the marine predators.

“Establishing those bonds over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of love. At the outset, 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 fulfilling.”

The trainer knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nevertheless astounded by the subtleties and unique traits in their personalities. She cultivated a particular love for two female belugas with different natures.

“Eve selected me. Cleo made me earn it,” she said. “Each transformed the way I understand connection.”

Growing Opposition and Facility Decline

Burgess’s connection with the whales developed against a context of growing public opposition to their enclosure.

During her three years at the park, seven belugas and the park’s one orca, the orca, passed away. In all, nineteen belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a toll which the park attributes to age-related causes, but which activists say indicates the substandard environment in which they were kept.

The park did not open to the public over the summer, but Burgess says she witnessed firsthand effects of the cessation. “Concrete is falling apart from the tanks because they’re degrading and not being maintained. The whales are curious and so they take pieces and move about with chunks in their jaws. It’s distressing to see.”

The park did not comment to a request for comment, but in the past stated: “The whales … receive far superior medical attention and around the clock attention than any individual in the United Kingdom, or anywhere else.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was terminated from the facility in early March following the death of a beluga, an unwell beluga the caretakers had to put down. She said the park suspected information of the incident were shared to the media and she was let go not long after.

The ambiguity over the whales’ outcome has left her and staff members in despair. She says the facility’s ultimatum to euthanize its whales is a negotiation tactic and is a “logistically impossible” task, adding any attempts to humanely kill even a single beluga would require “considerable staff”, equipment and machinery.

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

She backs demands for the whales to be transferred immediately from the park, with its crumbling tanks and shrinking team.

In the autumn, Canada’s fisheries minister denied a bid to transfer the whales to China.

“Granting the application would have meant a ongoing existence in confinement and a return to display for amusement,” the official commented. “As Canadians, we know that marine mammals belong in the sea, not in pools for our entertainment. I could not in ethical standing permit an export that would prolong the conditions these belugas have endured.”

But the former trainer said the minister’s statements indicate a broader incorrect perception of the facts of life for belugas born in captivity.

“The people needs to realize these are whales that have existed solely in captivity and they will need ongoing assistance for the rest of their years,” she said. “Many just don’t realize that it’s not as easy as saying ‘end operations’.”

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As officials work to find a solution, ideas have emerged, some of which have questionable practicality. An idea called for the belugas to be released into the wilds of the Arctic – where whales are a key source of sustenance for Inuit communities.

A proposed refuge in the region of Nova Scotia, which now received official endorsement, has been contentious. The prospective site, which includes 100 acres of penned in ocean, remains undeveloped. Advocates remain positive that it could in time represent a permanent answer for eight of the whales.

But, Burgess says, among caretakers she’s spoken with, there is “skepticism there” about what she said is “merely an experiment” in the whales’ well-being.

Some experts say the idea of a refuge reflects a changing attitudes away from captive facilities and could represent a workable solution in the short term.

An official, leader of the initiative, said the site will replicate the mental engagement and nutrition the whales receive from specialists, albeit in a much larger area. He said after the well-being of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|