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The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an adorable small “playful character”. The whale Orion – called “Onion Ring” – is a big but fiercely protective friend. Another whale, Zephyr has “constant motion” and wiggles like a wiggly creature. Lillooet is the “most affectionate” with a gentle spirit.

A group of thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canadian amusement park have become pawns in a struggle between a closed attraction, local and national governments and advocacy groups.

But those most familiar with the whales say the impassioned discussion over their fate often overlooks the complexities of the whales who, after living their entire lives in captivity, have been carefully observed by the people who see them each day.

After the national authorities disallowed the export of the belugas to a foreign facility, the struggling facility near the famous falls where they are kept threatened to put them down unless the federal government pays for the expense of keeping them alive. The nation’s marine resources official has denied that ultimatum, placing the 30 whales in an increasingly precarious situation.

Intelligent Sea Creatures

Scientists say that beluga whales’ neural makeup, along with their sound replication, intellectual tasks and communal behavior point to they are highly cognitive mammals – something Kristy Burgess observed directly.

Burgess spent three years as a marine mammal specialist, a role that entailed building relationships of the marine predators.

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

Burgess knew the whales were very smart, but she says she was even so amazed by the subtleties and unique traits in their personalities. She formed a particular love for a pair of whales with contrasting personalities.

“One whale selected me. Cleo made me earn it,” she said. “Each transformed the way I understand bonding.”

Growing Opposition and Deteriorating Conditions

Burgess’s interaction with the whales progressed against a context of rising activist criticism to their confinement.

During her time at the park, multiple belugas and the park’s one orca, Kiska, succumbed. In all, 19 belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a toll which the park ascribes to expected lifespan, but which activists say indicates the substandard environment in which they were maintained.

The park did not operate to the visitors over the recent season, but the former trainer says she saw with her own eyes effects of the closure. “Concrete is breaking off from the enclosures because they’re degrading and not being maintained. The whales are inquisitive and so they pick it up and navigate with chunks in their mouth. It’s distressing to see.”

The facility did not respond to a request for comment, but in the past stated: “The whales … receive far higher quality medical attention and constant supervision than any person in the UK, or elsewhere.”

Uncertain Future and Potential Resolutions

The former employee was terminated from the park in early March following the demise of Eos, an unwell beluga the park staff had to put down. She said the facility suspected information of the incident were shared to the press and she was fired not long after.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ fate has left her and other caretakers in anguish. She says the park’s warning to end the lives of its whales is a leverage tool and is a “logistically impossible” endeavor, adding any efforts to euthanize even a single beluga would require “considerable personnel”, trucks and heavy equipment.

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

Burgess advocates for calls for the whales to be transferred promptly from the park, with its deteriorating pools and reduced personnel.

In late September, the nation’s government official rejected a bid to transfer the whales to an overseas location.

“To approve the proposal would have meant a ongoing situation in confinement and a return to public entertainment,” the minister wrote. “As Canadians, we know that belugas are meant for the wild, not in tanks for our amusement. I could not in clear conscience permit an transfer that would perpetuate the treatment these belugas have experienced.”

But Burgess said the official’s statements indicate a wider incorrect perception of the circumstances of life for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The public needs to realize these are whales that have spent their whole lives in captivity and they will need constant supervision for the rest of their years,” she said. “The public just don’t understand that it’s not as straightforward as saying ‘close it down’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Ongoing Debate

As authorities struggle to find a resolution, ideas have emerged, some of which have questionable practicality. One proposal called for the belugas to be freed into the wilds of the Arctic – where whales are a important part of nourishment for Indigenous peoples.

A planned sanctuary in the province of eastern Canada, which now received government approval, has shown to be contentious. The planned location, which includes a large area of protected cove, remains undeveloped. Advocates remain optimistic that it could in time represent a long term answer for a number of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among trainers she’s discussed with, there is “skepticism there” about what she said is “merely an trial” in the whales’ fate.

Others say the possibility of a sanctuary indicates a changing attitudes away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a viable solution in the coming months.

Charles Vinick, head of the sanctuary project, said the facility will mimic the cognitive activities and nutrition the whales get from specialists, albeit in a significantly bigger space. He said after the health of whales is thoroughly evaluated, which could take months|an extended period|