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Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an cute little “sweetheart”. The whale Orion – nicknamed “Onion” – is a large but fiercely protective friend. Another whale, Zephyr has “endless energy” and moves like a wiggly creature. Lillooet is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a kind nature.

Thirty enclosed marine mammals in a Canada-based amusement park have been entangled in a struggle between a shuttered park, public officials and welfare campaigners.

But those closest to the whales say the impassioned controversy over their fate often fails to consider the complexities of the whales who, after spending their lives in confinement, have been closely studied by the humans who interact with them daily.

After the federal government prevented the sale of the belugas to China, the embattled attraction near Niagara Falls where they are housed warned to euthanize them unless the government pays for the cost of their care. Canada’s marine resources official has refused that ultimatum, placing the 30 whales in an ever more uncertain situation.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Experts say that belugas’ brain structure, along with their sound replication, cognitive challenges and group interactions point to they are highly cognitive creatures – something a former trainer discovered first-hand.

Burgess spent three years as a beluga trainer, a position that entailed building relationships of the marine predators.

“Building up those connections over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of love. At the start, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “Over time, you gain shared confidence. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so wonderful and rewarding.”

The trainer knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nonetheless amazed by the nuances and idiosyncrasies in their dispositions. She formed a special affection for two female belugas with opposing temperaments.

“Eve accepted me. The other required effort,” she said. “Each transformed the way I view connection.”

Growing Opposition and Facility Decline

Her relationship with the whales evolved against a background of rising activist criticism to their captivity.

During her tenure at the facility, multiple belugas and the park’s single orca, the orca, passed away. In all, nineteen belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a toll which the facility attributes to natural mortality, but which advocates say points to the substandard environment in which they were housed.

The park did not operate to the public over the summer, but Burgess says she saw with her own eyes effects of the cessation. “Structural materials is deteriorating from the tanks because they’re falling apart and not being maintained. The whales are curious and so they pick it up and navigate with chunks in their mouth. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The park did not respond to a inquiry, but in the past stated: “The whales … get far better medical attention and constant attention than any individual in the United Kingdom, or other places.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was dismissed from the park in early March following the death of a beluga, an sick beluga the caretakers had to humanely kill. She said the park believed details of the incident were leaked to the news outlets and she was fired shortly thereafter.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ outcome has left her and other caretakers in anguish. She says the facility’s ultimatum to end the lives of its whales is a leverage tool and is a “extremely difficult” undertaking, adding any efforts to humanely kill even a one beluga would require “considerable personnel”, vehicles and heavy equipment.

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

She backs requests for the whales to be removed immediately from the park, with its failing enclosures and shrinking team.

In late September, the nation’s fisheries minister turned down a request to send the whales to China.

“Granting the application would have meant a continued life in confinement and a reversion to public entertainment,” the official wrote. “As Canadians, we know that whales belong in the sea, not in enclosures for our enjoyment. I could not in clear conscience approve an export that would perpetuate the conditions these belugas have experienced.”

But the former trainer said the official’s statements indicate a broader lack of awareness of the circumstances of life for belugas raised in confinement.

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

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As decision makers attempt to find a solution, proposals 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 Canada’s north – where whales are a important part of sustenance for local populations.

A proposed protected area in the region of Nova Scotia, which now received regulatory clearance, has proven most controversial. The prospective location, which includes 100 acres of penned in ocean, remains undeveloped. Advocates remain optimistic that it could ultimately represent a permanent resolution for some of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among trainers she’s spoken with, there is “skepticism there” about what she said is “simply an untested concept” in the whales’ well-being.

Some experts say the idea of a refuge reflects a changing attitudes away from captive facilities and could represent a feasible solution in the short term.

The project lead, director of the initiative, said the site will replicate the intellectual stimulation and nutrition the whales get from caretakers, albeit in a much larger environment. He said after the health of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|