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Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie is an adorable little “sweetheart”. Orion – called “Onion” – is a sizeable but guardian-like companion. Another whale, Zephyr has “constant motion” and moves like a worm. Lillooet is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a kind nature.

Thirty captive marine mammals in a Canadian entertainment facility have become pawns in a tussle between a shuttered park, government authorities and advocacy groups.

But those most familiar with the whales say the heated debate over their future often fails to consider the individual traits of the whales who, after living their entire lives in confinement, have been carefully observed by the people who work with them regularly.

After the federal government prevented the sale of the belugas to China, the embattled attraction near the famous falls where they are held warned to end their lives unless the federal government covers the upkeep of keeping them alive. The nation’s fisheries minister has refused that ultimatum, placing the thirty whales in an dangerously unstable circumstance.

Highly Cognitive Sea Creatures

Experts say that belugas’ neuroanatomy, along with their mimicry abilities, intellectual tasks and communal behavior suggest they are deeply intelligent mammals – something a former trainer learned directly.

Burgess spent a significant period as a whale caretaker, a job that entailed building relationships of the marine predators.

“Developing those relationships over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of care. At the outset, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “In time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more open with you. It’s just so magical and rewarding.”

The trainer knew the whales were very smart, but she says she was nonetheless amazed by the details and unique traits in their personalities. She developed a special affection for two female belugas with opposing natures.

“One whale chose me. The other demanded work,” she said. “Both altered the way I understand connection.”

Public Concerns and Deteriorating Conditions

Burgess’s connection with the whales developed against a context of increasing societal concern to their confinement.

During her time at the facility, multiple belugas and the park’s single orca, Kiska, passed away. In all, 19 belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a toll which the park attributes to natural mortality, but which advocates say indicates the poor conditions 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 results of the shutdown. “Structural materials is falling apart from the pools because they’re falling apart and not being maintained. The whales are curious and so they grab fragments and move about with pieces in their jaws. It’s upsetting to see.”

The park did not respond to a questionnaire, but in the past asserted: “The whales … get far higher quality health care and around the clock attention than any individual in the United Kingdom, or elsewhere.”

Fate in Limbo and Potential Resolutions

Burgess was dismissed from the park in the spring following the death of a beluga, an sick beluga the employees had to humanely kill. She said the facility suspected information of the incident were disclosed to the press and she was released shortly thereafter.

The ambiguity over the whales’ fate has left her and staff members in despair. She says the facility’s threat to euthanize its whales is a leverage tool and is a “practically unfeasible” task, adding any attempts to euthanize even a one beluga would require “significant staff”, equipment and heavy equipment.

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

She backs demands for the whales to be transferred immediately from the facility, with its failing enclosures and reduced personnel.

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

“Granting the proposal would have meant a continued life in confinement and a return to display for amusement,” the minister wrote. “As the public, we know that marine mammals belong in the sea, not in pools for our amusement. I could not in good conscience permit an export that would prolong the situation these belugas have endured.”

But Burgess said the official’s comments reveal a broader misunderstanding of the facts of living conditions for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

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

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As officials work to find a answer, suggestions have been put forward, some of which have little basis in reality. An idea called for the belugas to be let go into the natural habitat of northern regions – where whales are a primary resource of nourishment for Indigenous peoples.

A planned protected area in the region of Nova Scotia, which now received government approval, has shown to be most controversial. The future location, which includes a large area of enclosed sea water, doesn’t yet exist. Proponents remain positive that it could eventually represent a sustainable resolution for some of the whales.

But, Burgess says, among caretakers she’s discussed with, there is “doubts there” about what she said is “simply an untested concept” in the whales’ fate.

Different voices say the possibility of a protected habitat reflects a changing attitudes away from captive facilities and could represent a feasible plan in the coming months.

The project lead, head of the initiative, said the location will mimic the cognitive activities and diet the whales receive from caretakers, albeit in a much larger space. He said after the well-being of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|