🔗 Share this article

The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie is an cute little “sweetheart”. Orion – called “Onion” – is a big but guardian-like friend. Another whale, Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and sways like a worm. Lillooet is the “loving presence” with a heart of gold.

Thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canada-based entertainment facility have become pawns in a tussle between a shuttered park, local and national governments and advocacy groups.

But those closest to the whales say the impassioned controversy over their future often overlooks the nuances of the whales who, after spending their lives in captivity, have been thoroughly researched by the caretakers who see them each day.

After the national authorities disallowed the transfer of the belugas to China, the struggling attraction near the famous falls where they are held threatened to put them down unless the authorities funds the upkeep of their survival. Canada’s marine resources official has rejected that demand, placing the 30 whales in an increasingly precarious position.

Highly Cognitive Sea Creatures

Experts say that beluga whales’ neuroanatomy, along with their mimicry abilities, intellectual tasks and group interactions suggest they are remarkably smart mammals – something one caretaker learned directly.

Burgess spent three years as a beluga trainer, a job that involved gaining confidence of the aquatic animals.

“Establishing those connections over time takes a lot of regularity and a lot of affection. At the beginning, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “In time, you gain reciprocal understanding. And they start being more open with you. It’s just so extraordinary and gratifying.”

Burgess knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nevertheless surprised by the subtleties and quirks in their dispositions. She developed a special affection for a pair of whales with opposing temperaments.

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

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

Her interaction with the whales evolved against a background of increasing societal concern to their enclosure.

During her tenure at the facility, multiple belugas and the park’s one killer whale, Kiska, passed away. In total, nineteen belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a number which the park links to expected lifespan, but which activists say reflects the poor conditions in which they were housed.

The park did not operate to the guests over the summer, but Burgess says she observed directly results of the shutdown. “Structural materials is falling apart from the tanks because they’re in disrepair and not being maintained. The whales are curious and so they take pieces and move about with pieces in their jaws. It’s distressing to see.”

The park did not reply to a request for comment, but in the past asserted: “The whales … obtain far higher quality health care and 24/7 attention than any individual in the Britain, or anywhere else.”

Uncertain Future and Potential Resolutions

The former employee was fired from the park in the spring following the passing of a beluga, an unwell beluga the park staff had to humanely kill. She said the facility suspected particulars of the death were disclosed to the news outlets and she was fired shortly thereafter.

The ambiguity over the whales’ fate has left her and current and former trainers in anguish. She says the park’s threat to end the lives of its whales is a leverage tool and is a “extremely difficult” task, adding any plans to put down even a one beluga would require “significant personnel”, equipment and specialized tools.

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

She advocates for requests for the whales to be taken immediately from the park, with its deteriorating pools and shrinking team.

In recent months, Canada’s government official denied a proposal to export the whales to an overseas location.

“To approve the application would have meant a ongoing situation in enclosure and a reversion to public entertainment,” the minister wrote. “As the public, we know that marine mammals belong in the ocean, not in pools for our entertainment. I could not in clear conscience approve an export that would prolong the conditions these belugas have endured.”

But Burgess said the minister’s statements reveal a broader incorrect perception of the realities of existence for belugas raised in confinement.

“The public needs to realize these are whales that have existed solely in confinement and they will need ongoing assistance for the foreseeable future,” she said. “Many just don’t comprehend that it’s not as straightforward as saying ‘end operations’.”

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As officials attempt to find a answer, proposals have surfaced, some of which have questionable practicality. One proposal called for the belugas to be freed into the natural habitat of the Arctic – where whales are a important part of nourishment for local populations.

A suggested sanctuary in the region of eastern Canada, which recently received regulatory clearance, has proven highly debated. The future facility, which includes 100 acres of protected cove, is not yet built. Proponents remain optimistic that it could in time represent a sustainable solution for eight of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among trainers she’s consulted, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “merely an untested concept” in the whales’ well-being.

Others say the prospect of a protected habitat reflects a broader global shift away from animal displays and could represent a viable approach in the short term.

Charles Vinick, head of the sanctuary project, said the facility will replicate the intellectual stimulation and feeding regimen the whales receive from specialists, albeit in a much larger space. He said after the well-being of whales is thoroughly evaluated, which could take months|an extended period|