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Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an charming little “playful character”. The whale Orion – called “Onion Ring” – is a large but very loyal friend. Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and moves like a wiggly creature. Lillooet is the “loving presence” with a kind nature.

A group of thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canadian amusement park have been entangled in a struggle between a defunct facility, public officials and animal rights activists.

But those most familiar with the whales say the impassioned debate over their fate often fails to consider the individual traits of the whales who, after spending their lives in confinement, have been thoroughly researched by the people who see them each day.

After the federal government disallowed the sale of the belugas to China, the embattled amusement park near Niagara Falls where they are held warned to end their lives unless the federal government covers the cost of their survival. The nation’s fisheries minister has rejected that request, placing the 30 whales in an ever more uncertain situation.

Highly Cognitive Sea Creatures

Researchers say that beluga whales’ brain structure, along with their mimicry abilities, problem solving and communal behavior point to they are highly cognitive mammals – something one caretaker learned directly.

She spent a significant period as a beluga trainer, a role that involved earning the trust of the marine predators.

“Building up those relationships over time takes a lot of dedication and a lot of love. At the start, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “In time, you gain reciprocal understanding. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so magical and fulfilling.”

The trainer knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nevertheless amazed by the nuances and idiosyncrasies in their characters. She cultivated a deep bond for a pair of whales with opposing temperaments.

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

Growing Opposition and Deteriorating Conditions

Burgess’s connection with the whales developed against a background of rising activist criticism to their enclosure.

During her three years at the attraction, seven belugas and the park’s one killer whale, the orca, died. In total, 19 belugas have died at the park since 2019, a number which the park ascribes to age-related causes, but which advocates say reflects the inadequate care in which they were housed.

The facility did not operate to the guests over the recent season, but the former trainer says she observed directly results of the closure. “Concrete is breaking off from the enclosures because they’re falling apart and not being maintained. The whales are curious and so they take pieces and move about with fragments in their jaws. It’s upsetting to see.”

The park did not reply to a request for comment, but previously stated: “The whales … obtain far higher quality veterinary services and 24/7 attention than any person in the Britain, or anywhere else.”

Uncertain Future and Potential Resolutions

The former employee was dismissed from the facility in the spring following the death of a beluga, an sick beluga the employees had to put down. She said the park suspected information of the death were shared to the press and she was let go shortly thereafter.

The uncertainty over the whales’ future has left Burgess and staff members in distress. She says the facility’s ultimatum to euthanize its whales is a negotiation tactic and is a “logistically impossible” task, adding any plans to euthanize even a individual beluga would require “significant personnel”, trucks and machinery.

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

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

In the autumn, Canada’s fisheries minister denied a request to export the whales to China.

“To approve the application would have meant a continued existence in confinement and a reversion to public entertainment,” the official wrote. “As the public, we know that marine mammals should be in the ocean, not in enclosures for our entertainment. I could not in clear conscience permit an relocation that would prolong the treatment these belugas have suffered.”

But Burgess said the official’s statements reveal a wider misunderstanding of the circumstances of existence for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The public needs to grasp these are whales that have existed solely in enclosed habitats and they will need human care for the remainder of their lives,” she said. “People just don’t comprehend that it’s not as simple as saying ‘close it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As decision makers attempt to find a answer, suggestions have been put forward, some of which have minimal feasibility. An idea called for the belugas to be let go into the open waters of northern regions – where whales are a key source of food for Indigenous peoples.

A planned sanctuary in the province of Nova Scotia, which has received official endorsement, has been contentious. The prospective location, which includes a large area of protected cove, is not yet built. Supporters remain positive that it could in time represent a long term answer for some of the whales.

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

Some experts say the possibility of a protected habitat represents a changing attitudes away from animal displays and could represent a workable approach in the short term.

The project lead, head of the plan, said the location will replicate the intellectual stimulation and feeding regimen the whales receive from trainers, albeit in a more expansive space. He said after the health of whales is thoroughly evaluated, which could take months|an extended period|