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Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie is an cute small “playful character”. Orion – called “Onion Ring” – is a big but fiercely protective friend. Another whale, Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and wiggles like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “most affectionate” with a kind nature.

A group of thirty captive beluga whales in a Canadian entertainment facility have been entangled in a tussle between a shuttered park, public officials and animal rights activists.

But those closest to the whales say the heated debate over their fate often fails to consider the nuances of the whales who, after growing up in confinement, have been carefully observed by the people who work with them regularly.

After the Canadian government blocked the sale of the belugas to China, the struggling attraction near the famous falls where they are kept threatened to euthanize them unless the government pays for the expense of keeping them alive. Canada’s marine resources official has rejected that ultimatum, placing the thirty whales in an increasingly precarious position.

Intelligent Marine Mammals

Experts say that beluga whales’ brain structure, along with their sound replication, problem solving and communal behavior point to they are deeply intelligent creatures – something one caretaker observed personally.

Burgess spent several years as a whale caretaker, a role that involved earning the trust of the marine predators.

“Building up those bonds over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of love. At the outset, they’re very unsure of you,” she said. “In time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so wonderful and rewarding.”

Burgess knew the whales were exceptionally cognitive, but she says she was nonetheless amazed by the details and unique traits in their dispositions. She formed a special affection for two female belugas with different temperaments.

“One whale chose me. The other made me earn it,” she said. “Each changed the way I perceive bonding.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

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

During her tenure at the facility, seven belugas and the park’s single orca, the orca, succumbed. In total, 19 belugas have died at the park since recent years, a statistic which the park links to natural mortality, but which campaigners say points to the substandard environment in which they were maintained.

The park did not operate to the public over the recent season, but the former trainer says she witnessed firsthand consequences of the cessation. “Structural materials is deteriorating from the pools because they’re in disrepair and not being repaired. The whales are exploratory and so they take pieces and swim around with fragments in their jaws. It’s distressing to see.”

The facility did not reply to a questionnaire, but previously asserted: “The whales … get far higher quality health care and 24/7 supervision than any individual in the United Kingdom, or elsewhere.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

Burgess was dismissed from the park in early March following the demise of a beluga, an ailing beluga the park staff had to euthanize. She said the facility believed particulars of the incident were leaked to the news outlets and she was let go shortly thereafter.

The uncertainty over the whales’ fate has left Burgess and other caretakers in anguish. She says the facility’s ultimatum to euthanize its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “practically unfeasible” task, adding any plans to humanely kill even a single beluga would require “significant staff”, equipment and specialized tools.

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

She supports demands for the whales to be removed right away from the park, with its deteriorating pools and shrinking team.

In the autumn, Canada’s fisheries minister turned down a proposal to transfer the whales to an overseas location.

“To approve the application would have meant a ongoing life in captivity and a return to public entertainment,” the minister commented. “As Canadians, we know that whales belong in the ocean, not in tanks for our enjoyment. I could not in clear conscience authorize an relocation that would perpetuate the treatment these belugas have experienced.”

But Burgess said the minister’s statements reveal a broader misunderstanding of the realities of life for belugas raised in confinement.

“The people needs to understand these are whales that have spent their whole lives in confinement and they will need human care for the rest of their years,” she said. “The public just don’t comprehend that it’s not as simple as saying ‘close it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As officials attempt to find a resolution, proposals have been put forward, some of which have questionable practicality. An idea called for the belugas to be let go into the natural habitat of the Arctic – where whales are a primary resource of nourishment for Indigenous peoples.

A proposed protected area in the province of eastern Canada, which now received government approval, has shown to be most controversial. The future facility, which includes 100 acres of enclosed sea water, doesn’t yet exist. Proponents remain optimistic that it could eventually represent a long term answer for some of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among trainers she’s consulted, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “merely an untested concept” in the whales’ well-being.

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 near future.

An official, head of the plan, said the location will mimic the cognitive activities and nutrition the whales receive from trainers, albeit in a significantly bigger area. He said after the medical condition of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|