It is heartbreaking’: the way 30 confined white whales are now tools in row over inhumane treatment.

The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie is an cute small “sweetheart”. The whale Orion – called “Onion” – is a sizeable but guardian-like companion. Another whale, Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and wiggles like a worm. 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 closed attraction, public officials and welfare campaigners.

But those most familiar with the whales say the intense discussion over their fate often fails to consider the nuances of the whales who, after living their entire lives in confinement, have been closely studied by the caretakers who see them each day.

After the national authorities prevented the transfer of the belugas to China, the struggling amusement park near Niagara Falls where they are held threatened to put them down unless the authorities funds the cost of their survival. Canada’s marine resources official has rejected that request, placing the 30 whales in an increasingly precarious circumstance.

Intelligent Sea Creatures

Experts say that belugas’ brain structure, along with their sound replication, intellectual tasks and group interactions suggest they are highly cognitive creatures – something Kristy Burgess discovered directly.

Burgess spent three years as a whale caretaker, a job that entailed earning the trust of the aquatic animals.

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

Burgess knew the whales were very smart, but she says she was nonetheless astounded by the nuances and unique traits in their personalities. She developed a special affection for a pair of whales with opposing natures.

“Eve selected me. The other required effort,” she said. “Each changed the way I view relationships.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

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

During her three years at the park, multiple belugas and the park’s single killer whale, Kiska, succumbed. In total, nineteen belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a toll which the park attributes to natural mortality, but which campaigners say indicates the substandard environment in which they were maintained.

The facility did not admit visitors to the public over the recent season, but the former trainer says she saw with her own eyes consequences 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 swim around with pieces in their jaws. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The park did not comment to a request for comment, but in the past asserted: “The whales … receive far higher quality health care and 24/7 attention than any individual in the UK, or elsewhere.”

Uncertain Future and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was dismissed from the facility in the spring following the death of a beluga, an unwell beluga the caretakers had to humanely kill. She said the park thought particulars of the incident were disclosed to the press and she was let go soon after.

The ambiguity over the whales’ future has left her and current and former trainers in distress. She says the park’s ultimatum to end the lives of its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “logistically impossible” task, adding any plans to put down even a one beluga would require “immense manpower”, trucks and machinery.

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

She supports calls for the whales to be removed right away from the facility, with its crumbling tanks and reduced personnel.

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

“Granting the proposal would have meant a perpetual existence in enclosure and a return to display for amusement,” the official wrote. “As society, we know that belugas belong in the sea, not in pools for our enjoyment. I could not in clear conscience approve an export that would perpetuate the treatment these belugas have endured.”

But Burgess said the minister’s comments reveal a wider incorrect perception of the circumstances of life for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

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

Sanctuary Proposal and Continuing Discussion

As authorities attempt to find a resolution, suggestions have emerged, some of which have minimal feasibility. A suggested plan called for the belugas to be freed into the wilds of the Arctic – where whales are a key source of sustenance for Inuit communities.

A planned sanctuary in the province of Nova Scotia, which recently received regulatory clearance, has proven contentious. The future location, which includes 100 acres of enclosed sea water, is not yet built. Advocates remain hopeful that it could in time represent a permanent solution for eight of the whales.

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

Others say the possibility of a refuge represents a changing attitudes away from captive facilities and could represent a viable plan in the short term.

The project lead, director of the initiative, said the location will replicate the cognitive activities and feeding regimen the whales obtain from trainers, albeit in a much larger area. He said after the well-being of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|