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The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an adorable small “sweetheart”. Orion – called “Onion Ring” – is a sizeable but fiercely protective companion. Another whale, Zephyr has “endless energy” and sways like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “most affectionate” with a kind nature.

A group of thirty enclosed marine mammals in a Canadian amusement park have been entangled in a struggle between a shuttered park, government authorities and advocacy groups.

But those working directly with the whales say the heated debate over their future often overlooks the individual traits of the whales who, after living their entire lives in confinement, have been carefully observed by the people who see them each day.

After the federal government prevented the sale of the belugas to China, the struggling facility near Niagara Falls where they are held threatened to end their lives unless the government pays for the upkeep of keeping them alive. Canada’s fisheries minister has rejected that ultimatum, placing the thirty whales in an dangerously unstable position.

Intelligent Marine Mammals

Researchers say that beluga whales’ brain structure, along with their mimicry abilities, cognitive challenges and communal behavior suggest they are deeply intelligent creatures – something one caretaker observed directly.

Burgess spent a significant period as a marine mammal specialist, a position that involved gaining confidence of the marine predators.

“Establishing those bonds over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of love. At the beginning, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “In time, you gain reciprocal understanding. And they start being more trusting with you. It’s just so magical and rewarding.”

The trainer knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nonetheless surprised by the subtleties and idiosyncrasies in their personalities. She developed a special affection for two female belugas with different natures.

“One whale accepted me. The other made me earn it,” she said. “They changed the way I view bonding.”

Growing Opposition and Deteriorating Conditions

Burgess’s interaction with the whales evolved against a background of growing public opposition to their enclosure.

During her tenure at the park, seven belugas and the park’s one orca, the orca, passed away. In total, 19 belugas have died at the park since 2019, a number which the facility attributes to expected lifespan, but which advocates say indicates the poor conditions in which they were maintained.

The facility did not admit visitors to the visitors over the recent season, but the former trainer says she witnessed firsthand consequences of the cessation. “Structural materials is breaking off from the pools because they’re falling apart and not being maintained. The whales are inquisitive and so they grab fragments and navigate with fragments in their mouth. It’s upsetting to see.”

The facility did not reply to a request for comment, but previously asserted: “The whales … get far higher quality medical attention and constant supervision than any individual in the United Kingdom, or anywhere else.”

Uncertain Future and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was terminated from the park in recent months following the demise of a beluga, an ailing beluga the caretakers had to put down. She said the park thought information of the incident were shared to the news outlets and she was fired not long after.

The uncertainty over the whales’ future has left her and other caretakers in anguish. She says the facility’s warning to end the lives of its whales is a negotiation tactic and is a “extremely difficult” undertaking, adding any efforts to humanely kill even a one beluga would require “significant personnel”, trucks and specialized tools.

“It’s impossible in hell the employees would ever do it,” she said.

She supports demands for the whales to be removed immediately from the park, with its deteriorating pools and shrinking team.

In the autumn, Canada’s government official rejected a bid to transfer the whales to China.

“Granting the proposal would have meant a continued existence in confinement and a return to performance for audiences,” the minister wrote. “As the public, we know that marine mammals should be in the ocean, not in tanks for our entertainment. I could not in ethical standing approve an export that would continue the situation these belugas have experienced.”

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

“The people needs to realize these are whales that have existed solely in confinement and they will need constant supervision for the foreseeable future,” she said. “Many just don’t realize that it’s not as simple as saying ‘close it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As officials struggle to find a resolution, suggestions have been put forward, some of which have minimal feasibility. One proposal called for the belugas to be let go into the natural habitat of northern regions – where whales are a primary resource of food for local populations.

A suggested protected area in the region of eastern Canada, which now received official endorsement, has shown to be most controversial. The prospective site, which includes extensive space of protected cove, doesn’t yet exist. Advocates remain optimistic that it could in time represent a long term resolution for a number of the whales.

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

Others say the prospect of a sanctuary reflects a worldwide trend away from animal displays and could represent a feasible solution in the near future.

Charles Vinick, director of the sanctuary project, said the location will replicate the intellectual stimulation and diet the whales obtain from trainers, albeit in a much larger environment. He said after the health of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|