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The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie is an charming little “playful character”. The whale Orion – nicknamed “Onion” – is a big but very loyal companion. Another whale, Zephyr has “constant motion” and sways like a worm. Lillooet the beluga is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a gentle spirit.

Thirty captive beluga whales in a Canadian amusement park have been entangled in a tussle between a shuttered park, local and national governments and welfare campaigners.

But those closest to the whales say the heated controversy over their destiny often overlooks the nuances of the whales who, after living their entire lives in captivity, have been thoroughly researched by the caretakers who work with them regularly.

After the national authorities prevented the sale of the belugas to a foreign facility, the struggling attraction near Niagara Falls where they are kept threatened to euthanize them unless the authorities funds the cost of keeping them alive. The nation’s fisheries minister has refused that request, placing the thirty whales in an increasingly precarious position.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Experts say that beluga whales’ neuroanatomy, along with their mimicry abilities, cognitive challenges and social skills point to they are highly cognitive mammals – something Kristy Burgess observed personally.

Burgess spent several years as a marine mammal specialist, a job that required gaining confidence of the marine predators.

“Establishing those relationships over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of love. At the start, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “Eventually, you gain shared confidence. And they start being more open with you. It’s just so extraordinary and fulfilling.”

Burgess knew the whales were exceptionally cognitive, but she says she was nonetheless surprised by the subtleties and unique traits in their characters. She formed a special affection for two female belugas with contrasting natures.

“Eve selected me. Cleo required effort,” she said. “They changed the way I understand bonding.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

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

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

The park did not admit visitors to the visitors over the summer, but Burgess says she observed directly results of the shutdown. “Concrete is falling apart from the pools because they’re degrading and not being maintained. The whales are curious and so they take pieces and navigate with fragments in their mouth. It’s distressing to see.”

The park did not comment to a questionnaire, but previously stated: “The whales … obtain far better veterinary services and constant attention than any human in the United Kingdom, or anywhere else.”

Uncertain Future and Proposed Solutions

Burgess was terminated from the facility in recent months following the demise of Eos, an unwell beluga the employees had to euthanize. She said the park thought particulars of the incident were leaked to the media and she was let go soon after.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ future has left her and current and former trainers in distress. She says the park’s ultimatum to euthanize its whales is a leverage tool and is a “logistically impossible” task, adding any attempts to put down even a single beluga would require “significant manpower”, trucks and machinery.

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

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

In recent months, the nation’s fisheries minister rejected a proposal to export the whales to an overseas location.

“Granting the application would have meant a continued existence in confinement and a return to performance for audiences,” the minister wrote. “As the public, we know that belugas belong in the wild, not in tanks for our entertainment. I could not in good conscience approve an relocation that would continue the situation these belugas have endured.”

But the former trainer said the minister’s remarks reveal a wider misunderstanding of the circumstances of living conditions for belugas born in captivity.

“The society needs to realize these are whales that have lived entirely in enclosed habitats and they will need human care for the foreseeable future,” she said. “People just don’t realize that it’s not as simple as saying ‘close it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As officials work to find a resolution, suggestions have surfaced, some of which have little basis in reality. A suggested plan called for the belugas to be released into the open waters of northern regions – where whales are a important part of food for Indigenous peoples.

A planned protected area in the province of eastern Canada, which now received regulatory clearance, has proven most controversial. The prospective facility, which includes 100 acres of enclosed sea water, remains undeveloped. Proponents remain hopeful that it could in time represent a long term solution for eight of the whales.

But, Burgess says, among staff she’s consulted, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “only an untested concept” in the whales’ well-being.

Others say the prospect of a refuge indicates a changing attitudes away from animal displays and could represent a feasible plan in the short term.

The project lead, director of the initiative, said the location will replicate the mental engagement and diet the whales receive from specialists, albeit in a much larger environment. He said after the health of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|