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Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie Botts is an adorable little “ham sandwich”. The whale Orion – called “Onion Ring” – is a big but very loyal companion. Another whale, Zephyr has “endless energy” and wiggles like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “most affectionate” with a heart of gold.

Thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canada-based amusement park have been caught in a disagreement between a defunct facility, local and national governments and animal rights activists.

But those working directly with the whales say the impassioned controversy over their destiny often ignores the complexities of the whales who, after growing up in enclosed habitats, have been closely studied by the people who work with them regularly.

After the Canadian government prevented the sale of the belugas to a foreign facility, the struggling amusement park near Niagara Falls where they are housed warned to put them down unless the government covers the cost of their survival. The nation’s fisheries minister has denied that demand, placing the 30 whales in an dangerously unstable situation.

Intelligent Marine Mammals

Scientists say that beluga whales’ neuroanatomy, along with their mimicry abilities, intellectual tasks and communal behavior indicate they are remarkably smart mammals – something one caretaker learned first-hand.

Burgess spent several years as a beluga trainer, a job that involved gaining confidence of the marine predators.

“Establishing those relationships over time takes a lot of regularity and a lot of care. At the outset, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “In time, you gain shared confidence. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so wonderful and gratifying.”

The trainer knew the whales were very smart, but she says she was nonetheless astounded by the subtleties and unique traits in their dispositions. She cultivated a deep bond for Eve and Cleopatra with opposing natures.

“One whale selected me. The other required effort,” she said. “Both transformed the way I understand relationships.”

Public Concerns and Deteriorating Conditions

Her connection with the whales evolved against a context of rising activist criticism to their confinement.

During her three years at the park, multiple belugas and the park’s one killer whale, Kiska, died. In total, nineteen belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a toll which the facility links to age-related causes, but which advocates say indicates the inadequate care in which they were maintained.

The park did not open to the public over the summer, but Burgess says she witnessed firsthand results of the closure. “Structural materials is breaking off from the tanks because they’re falling apart and not being repaired. The whales are inquisitive and so they take pieces and swim around with pieces in their mouth. It’s distressing to see.”

The park did not reply to a questionnaire, but earlier stated: “The whales … obtain far better veterinary services and constant attention than any person in the United Kingdom, or elsewhere.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was terminated from the park in recent months following the demise of Eos, an unwell beluga the employees had to euthanize. She said the facility suspected information of the incident were leaked to the news outlets and she was let go not long after.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ future has left her and other caretakers in despair. She says the park’s ultimatum to kill its whales is a leverage tool and is a “practically unfeasible” undertaking, adding any efforts to put down even a one beluga would require “considerable personnel”, vehicles and machinery.

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

Burgess backs requests for the whales to be removed promptly from the facility, with its failing enclosures and shrinking team.

In recent months, Canada’s fisheries minister turned down a bid to send the whales to an overseas location.

“To approve the proposal would have meant a perpetual life in captivity and a reversion to performance for audiences,” the minister wrote. “As the public, we know that marine mammals belong in the sea, not in enclosures for our amusement. I could not in ethical standing approve an export that would continue the conditions these belugas have experienced.”

But Burgess said the minister’s comments reveal a more general lack of awareness of the facts of life for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The public needs to grasp these are whales that have existed solely in confinement and they will need constant supervision for the rest of their years,” she said. “People just don’t understand that it’s not as easy as saying ‘close it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As authorities attempt to find a resolution, proposals have been put forward, some of which have questionable practicality. A suggested plan called for the belugas to be released into the wilds of the Arctic – where whales are a primary resource of nourishment for Inuit communities.

A suggested protected area in the province of Nova Scotia, which recently received government approval, has shown to be most controversial. The prospective site, which includes 100 acres of penned in ocean, doesn’t yet exist. Advocates remain positive that it could ultimately represent a permanent answer for eight of the whales.

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

Different voices say the possibility of a refuge indicates a changing attitudes away from animal displays and could represent a workable plan in the short term.

Charles Vinick, head of the plan, said the facility will simulate the intellectual stimulation and nutrition the whales obtain from trainers, albeit in a more expansive environment. He said after the well-being of whales is thoroughly evaluated, which could take months|an extended period|