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The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie Botts is an cute little “playful character”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion” – is a big but guardian-like companion. Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and moves like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “loving presence” with a gentle spirit.

A group of thirty enclosed marine mammals in a Canadian amusement park have become pawns in a tussle between a closed attraction, public officials and animal rights activists.

But those working directly with the whales say the heated debate over their fate often ignores the nuances of the whales who, after spending their lives in enclosed habitats, have been thoroughly researched by the people who interact with them daily.

After the national authorities prevented the sale of the belugas to China, the struggling amusement park near Niagara Falls where they are housed threatened to end their lives unless the government pays for the cost of their survival. Canada’s marine resources official has denied that request, placing the thirty whales in an ever more uncertain position.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Researchers say that belugas’ neural makeup, along with their sound replication, cognitive challenges and group interactions indicate they are highly cognitive animals – something one caretaker observed first-hand.

Burgess spent several years as a beluga trainer, a job that entailed gaining confidence of the sea creatures.

“Developing those connections 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 shared confidence. And they start being more trusting with you. It’s just so extraordinary and fulfilling.”

The trainer knew the whales were exceptionally cognitive, but she says she was nonetheless amazed by the nuances and unique traits in their dispositions. She cultivated a particular love for two female belugas with different personalities.

“One whale accepted me. The other made me earn it,” she said. “Both transformed the way I view connection.”

Public Concerns and Deteriorating Conditions

Her interaction with the whales progressed against a context of growing public opposition to their confinement.

During her three years at the attraction, seven belugas and the park’s one orca, the orca, died. In all, nineteen belugas have died at the park since 2019, a toll which the park links to natural mortality, but which campaigners say reflects the poor conditions in which they were kept.

The park did not open to the public over the recent season, but the former trainer says she observed directly effects of the cessation. “Structural materials is deteriorating from the tanks because they’re degrading and not being fixed. The whales are curious and so they pick it up and move about with fragments in their mouth. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The park did not comment to a request for comment, but in the past stated: “The whales … obtain far superior health care and constant care than any human in the Britain, or anywhere else.”

Uncertain Future and Potential Resolutions

The former employee was terminated from the facility in recent months following the death of a beluga, an ailing beluga the caretakers had to euthanize. She said the park suspected details of the incident were leaked to the press and she was let go soon after.

The uncertainty over the whales’ outcome has left Burgess and current and former trainers in distress. She says the facility’s threat to kill its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “logistically impossible” task, adding any attempts to euthanize even a single beluga would require “considerable staff”, vehicles and heavy equipment.

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

Burgess backs calls for the whales to be removed right away from the park, with its crumbling tanks and shrinking team.

In recent months, the nation’s fisheries minister rejected a request to export the whales to China.

“Granting the request would have meant a perpetual situation in enclosure and a return to performance for audiences,” the official stated. “As the public, we know that belugas belong in the sea, not in pools for our entertainment. I could not in good conscience authorize an relocation that would continue the conditions these belugas have suffered.”

But the former trainer said the official’s statements reveal a more general lack of awareness of the facts of living conditions for belugas raised in confinement.

“The public needs to grasp these are whales that have spent their whole lives in confinement and they will need constant supervision for the rest of their years,” she said. “The public just don’t understand that it’s not as straightforward as saying ‘shut it down’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Continuing Discussion

As decision makers struggle to find a solution, suggestions have been put forward, some of which have questionable practicality. One proposal called for the belugas to be let go into the open waters of Canada’s north – where whales are a important part of sustenance for Indigenous peoples.

A proposed refuge in the region of Nova Scotia, which recently received regulatory clearance, has been highly debated. The planned site, which includes extensive space of enclosed sea water, remains undeveloped. Advocates remain positive that it could ultimately represent a long term answer for eight of the whales.

But, Burgess says, among staff she’s consulted, there is “doubts there” about what she said is “simply an trial” in the whales’ fate.

Some experts say the idea of a sanctuary indicates a broader global shift away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a feasible plan in the near future.

An official, leader of the sanctuary project, said the facility will mimic the mental engagement and nutrition the whales get from trainers, albeit in a more expansive environment. He said after the health of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|