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The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an charming small “playful character”. The whale Orion – called “Onion Ring” – is a big but guardian-like companion. Another whale, Zephyr has “constant motion” and wiggles like a worm. Lillooet the beluga is the “most affectionate” with a kind nature.

A group of thirty captive beluga whales in a Canada-based amusement park have been entangled in a struggle between a closed attraction, public officials and advocacy groups.

But those most familiar with the whales say the intense debate over their destiny often ignores the individual traits of the whales who, after growing up in confinement, have been carefully observed by the humans who see them each day.

After the federal government blocked the sale of the belugas to China, the controversial amusement park near Niagara Falls where they are housed threatened to put them down unless the government funds the cost of their care. The nation’s fisheries minister has rejected that request, placing the 30 whales in an dangerously unstable situation.

Intelligent Sea Creatures

Scientists say that beluga whales’ neuroanatomy, along with their vocal imitation skills, cognitive challenges and group interactions point to they are remarkably smart creatures – something Kristy Burgess observed first-hand.

Burgess spent several years as a beluga trainer, a position that entailed earning the trust of the sea creatures.

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

Burgess knew the whales were exceptionally cognitive, but she says she was even so amazed by the nuances and quirks in their personalities. She cultivated a deep bond for a pair of whales with contrasting personalities.

“One whale chose me. Cleo required effort,” she said. “Both transformed the way I perceive connection.”

Growing Opposition and Facility Decline

Her connection with the whales evolved against a context of growing public opposition to their confinement.

During her time at the park, seven belugas and the park’s one orca, Kiska, passed away. In total, nineteen belugas have died at the park since 2019, a statistic which the park attributes to age-related causes, but which campaigners say points to the poor conditions in which they were housed.

The facility did not open to the public over the summer, but Burgess says she saw with her own eyes effects of the cessation. “Concrete is deteriorating from the enclosures because they’re in disrepair and not being maintained. The whales are curious and so they take pieces and navigate with fragments in their jaws. It’s upsetting to see.”

The park did not reply to a questionnaire, but in the past asserted: “The whales … receive far superior health care and constant attention than any person in the Britain, or elsewhere.”

Uncertain Future and Potential Resolutions

Burgess was terminated from the park in early March following the death of a beluga, an ailing beluga the caretakers had to euthanize. She said the facility believed information of the death were leaked to the press and she was released soon after.

The uncertainty over the whales’ fate has left her and other caretakers in distress. She says the facility’s warning to euthanize its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “logistically impossible” undertaking, adding any efforts to put down even a one beluga would require “considerable personnel”, vehicles and heavy equipment.

“It cannot happen in hell the caretakers would ever do it,” she said.

Burgess backs demands for the whales to be transferred immediately from the facility, with its crumbling tanks and reduced personnel.

In late September, Canada’s fisheries minister turned down a proposal to export the whales to an overseas location.

“Allowing the application would have meant a perpetual situation in captivity and a reversion to public entertainment,” the official stated. “As society, we know that belugas should be in the sea, not in enclosures for our enjoyment. I could not in good conscience permit an relocation that would prolong the conditions these belugas have endured.”

But Burgess said the minister’s statements reflect a more general misunderstanding of the facts of living conditions for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The society needs to understand these are whales that have lived entirely in confinement and they will need ongoing assistance for the foreseeable future,” she said. “People just don’t understand that it’s not as simple as saying ‘shut it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As authorities struggle to find a resolution, ideas have surfaced, some of which have little basis in reality. A suggested plan called for the belugas to be released into the wilds of the Arctic – where whales are a key source of food for Inuit communities.

A planned refuge in the province of eastern Canada, which has received regulatory clearance, has been contentious. The prospective site, which includes extensive space of enclosed sea water, remains undeveloped. Proponents remain hopeful that it could eventually represent a long term resolution for some of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among trainers she’s discussed with, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “only an untested concept” in the whales’ fate.

Others say the possibility of a refuge indicates a changing attitudes away from animal displays and could represent a viable solution in the near future.

The project lead, head of the initiative, said the facility will mimic the mental engagement and diet the whales get from caretakers, albeit in a more expansive area. He said after the health of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|