‘It’s heartbreaking’: how 30 captive beluga whales have become pawns in row over animal cruelty
Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an adorable little “ham sandwich”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion Ring” – is a large but fiercely protective friend. Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and wiggles like a worm. Lillooet is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a heart of gold. Thirty captive beluga whales in a Canadian amusement park have become pawns in a tussle between a shuttered park, local and national governments and animal rights activists. But those closest to the whales say the impassioned debate over their future often overlooks the complexities of the whales who, after spending their lives in captivity, have been closely studied by the humans who see them each day. After the federal government blocked the sale of the belugas to China, Marineland of Canada, the embattled amusement park near Niagara Falls where they are held, threatened to euthanize them unless the federal government covers the cost of keeping them alive. Canada’s fisheries minister has rejected that demand, placing the 30 whales in an increasingly precarious situation. Scientists say that belugas’ neuroanatomy, along with their mimicry abilities, problem solving and social skills suggest they are deeply intelligent mammals – something Kristy Burgess learned first-hand at Marineland. Burgess spent three years as a beluga trainer, a job that entailed earning the trust of the marine predators. “Building up those relationships over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of love. At the beginning, they’re very unsure of you,” she said. “Eventually, you gain mutual trust and understanding. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so magical and rewarding.” Burgess knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nonetheless astounded by the nuances and quirks in their personalities. She developed a particular love for Eve and Cleopatra, two female belugas with contrasting personalities. “Eve chose me. Cleo made me earn it,” she said. “Both changed the way I understand connection.” Burgess’s relationship with the whales developed against a backdrop of growing public opposition to their captivity. During her three years at Marineland, seven belugas and the park’s one killer whale, Kiska, died. (In total, 19 belugas, have died at the park since 2019, a toll which Marineland attributes to natural mortality, but which campaigners say reflects the poor conditions 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 shutdown. “Concrete is breaking off from the tanks because they’re falling apart and not being repaired. The whales are curious and so they pick it up and swim around with chunks in their mouth. It’s heartbreaking to see.” Marineland did not respond to a request for comment, but previously told the Guardian: “The whales … receive far better health care and around the clock attention than any human in the UK, or anywhere else.” Burgess was fired from Marineland in early March following the death of Eos, an ailing beluga the park staff had to euthanize. She said the park suspected details of the death were leaked to the media and she was fired soon after. The uncertainty over the whales’ fate has left Burgess and current and former trainers in despair. She says Marineland’s threat to kill its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “logistically impossible” task, adding any attempts to euthanize even a single beluga would require “immense manpower”, trucks and heavy equipment. “There’s no way in hell the staff would ever do it,” she said. Burgess supports calls for the whales to be removed immediately from Marineland, with its crumbling tanks and dwindling staff. In late September, Canada’s fisheries minister rejected a bid to export the whales to China. “To approve the request would have meant a continued life in captivity and a return to public entertainment,” Thompson wrote. “As Canadians, we know that whales belong in the ocean, not in tanks for our amusement. I could not in good conscience approve an export that would perpetuate the treatment these belugas have endured.” But Burgess said the minister’s comments reflect a broader misunderstanding of the realities of life for belugas born in captivity. “The public needs to realize these are whales that have spent their whole lives in captivity and they will need human care for the rest of their years,” she said. “People just don’t understand that it’s not as simple as saying ‘close it down’.” As decision makers struggle to find a solution, suggestions have emerged, some of which have little basis in reality. One proposal called for the belugas to be released into the wilds of Canada’s north – where whales are a key source of food for Inuit communities. A proposed sanctuary in the province of Nova Scotia, which recently received government approval, has proven most controversial. The prospective facility, which includes 100 acres of penned in ocean, doesn’t yet exist. Supporters remain hopeful that it could eventually represent a long term solution for eight of the whales. But, Burgess says, among trainers she’s spoken with, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “simply an experiment” in the whales’ future. Others say the prospect of a sanctuary reflects a broader global shift away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a viable plan in the near future. Charles Vinick, head of the sanctuary project, said the facility will replicate the intellectual stimulation and diet the whales receive from trainers, albeit in a much larger space. He said after the health of whales is fully assessed, which could take months, teams will have a clearer idea which belugas could be candidates for relocation. A “doable” construction timeline of eight or nine months means as many as 10 healthy whales could be re-homed by early summer, he said. Vinick acknowledges the team is the “first mover” in terms of developing a Canadian sanctuary, but says the group has “decades of experience” when understanding whales. “I know there’s a lot of emotion tied up in this because people really, rightfully, care about these whales. Let’s all work together to try to figure it out.” Camille Labchuk, lawyer and executive director at the advocacy group Animal Justice, says that some whales might have to remain at Marineland with significant upgrades to their habitat. The provincial government of Ontario has sweeping powers to seize the animals, improve the living conditions of the whales and send Marineland the bill. But so far, despite pledges from Doug Ford, the premier, to fix the situation, the province has waited for the federal government to act. “It’s clear that the whales need additional medical care. They keep dying. And that, to me, seems like a situation where the province should be the one acting right away,” she said. Others might need to be re-homed at aquariums in the United States, she says. “It’s admittedly very late in the game to be having to come up with solutions. And it’s frustrating, because we’ve been writing letters since the [captivity] laws first passed, pointing out to governments that this problem was inevitable. “Everybody knew Marineland would close, including Marineland,” said Labchuk. “Frankly, this is a crap situation that reflects the challenges in animal welfare law: so many different bodies that could do something that they all end up passing it back to each other and not doing anything.”
