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Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie is an cute little “sweetheart”. The whale Orion – called “Onion” – is a sizeable but fiercely protective friend. Another whale, Zephyr has “constant motion” and wiggles like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “most affectionate” with a gentle spirit.

A group of thirty captive marine mammals in a Canadian amusement park have become pawns in a struggle between a defunct facility, government authorities and welfare campaigners.

But those working directly with the whales say the intense controversy over their fate often overlooks the nuances of the whales who, after spending their lives in confinement, have been closely studied by the people who interact with them daily.

After the national authorities disallowed the sale of the belugas to a foreign facility, the struggling facility near the famous falls where they are kept stated it would consider to euthanize them unless the government pays for the upkeep of their care. The nation’s marine resources official has refused that demand, placing the 30 whales in an dangerously unstable circumstance.

Intelligent Sea Creatures

Experts say that beluga whales’ brain structure, along with their mimicry abilities, cognitive challenges and social skills point to they are highly cognitive animals – something Kristy Burgess discovered directly.

Burgess spent three years as a beluga trainer, a job that required earning the trust of the marine predators.

“Establishing those bonds over time takes a lot of regularity and a lot of care. At the beginning, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “Eventually, you gain reciprocal understanding. And they start being more open with you. It’s just so wonderful and rewarding.”

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

“One whale selected me. The other made me earn it,” she said. “Each changed the way I understand bonding.”

Growing Opposition and Deteriorating Conditions

Her relationship with the whales developed against a background of increasing societal concern to their confinement.

During her time at the facility, multiple belugas and the park’s single killer whale, Kiska, succumbed. In all, nineteen belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a statistic which the facility attributes to natural mortality, but which activists say indicates the inadequate care in which they were kept.

The park did not operate to the visitors over the recent season, but Burgess says she saw with her own eyes effects of the shutdown. “Concrete is breaking off from the tanks because they’re in disrepair and not being fixed. The whales are exploratory and so they pick it up and navigate with fragments in their jaws. It’s upsetting to see.”

The facility did not respond to a inquiry, but previously asserted: “The whales … receive far superior veterinary services and constant attention than any person in the Britain, or elsewhere.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was fired from the park in the spring following the demise of a beluga, an unwell beluga the caretakers had to put down. She said the facility suspected information of the incident were shared to the media and she was fired not long after.

The ambiguity over the whales’ future has left Burgess and staff members in despair. She says the park’s warning to end the lives of its whales is a negotiation tactic and is a “logistically impossible” undertaking, adding any attempts to put down even a single beluga would require “considerable staff”, trucks and machinery.

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

Burgess supports requests for the whales to be removed immediately from the park, with its crumbling tanks and reduced personnel.

In late September, Canada’s fisheries minister denied a request to transfer the whales to an overseas location.

“Allowing the request would have meant a ongoing life in captivity and a return to performance for audiences,” the minister wrote. “As the public, we know that marine mammals are meant for the wild, not in pools for our enjoyment. I could not in good conscience authorize an transfer that would continue the situation these belugas have experienced.”

But the former trainer said the minister’s comments reflect a broader lack of awareness of the circumstances of living conditions for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The society needs to realize these are whales that have spent their whole lives in confinement and they will need ongoing assistance for the rest of their years,” she said. “The public just don’t understand that it’s not as easy as saying ‘end operations’.”

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As decision makers attempt to find a answer, proposals have emerged, some of which have minimal feasibility. A suggested plan called for the belugas to be freed into the wilds of northern regions – where whales are a primary resource of food for Indigenous peoples.

A planned refuge in the region of eastern Canada, which now received official endorsement, has proven highly debated. The future site, which includes 100 acres of protected cove, doesn’t yet exist. Proponents remain positive that it could in time represent a long term answer for some of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among staff she’s discussed with, there is “skepticism there” about what she said is “only an experiment” in the whales’ well-being.

Some experts say the prospect of a protected habitat indicates a changing attitudes away from captive facilities and could represent a workable approach in the near future.

The project lead, leader of the sanctuary project, said the location will simulate the mental engagement and diet the whales get from trainers, albeit in a much larger area. He said after the medical condition of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|