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Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie is an charming little “sweetheart”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion Ring” – is a large but fiercely protective companion. Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and wiggles like a worm. Lillooet is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a gentle spirit.

Thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canada-based amusement park have been entangled in a struggle between a shuttered park, public officials and animal rights activists.

But those closest to the whales say the heated controversy over their future often overlooks the individual traits of the whales who, after growing up in confinement, have been thoroughly researched by the people who see them each day.

After the national authorities blocked the export of the belugas to a foreign facility, the struggling facility near Niagara Falls where they are housed warned to put them down unless the authorities covers the cost of keeping them alive. Canada’s marine resources official has denied that demand, placing the 30 whales in an dangerously unstable situation.

Intelligent Sea Creatures

Scientists say that beluga whales’ brain structure, along with their sound replication, problem solving and communal behavior indicate they are deeply intelligent animals – something one caretaker observed directly.

She spent several years as a marine mammal specialist, a position that involved building relationships of the sea creatures.

“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. “In time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so magical and rewarding.”

Burgess knew the whales were very smart, but she says she was even so surprised by the subtleties and quirks in their dispositions. She formed a particular love for a pair of whales with different temperaments.

“One whale accepted me. The other demanded work,” she said. “Both changed the way I understand bonding.”

Growing Opposition and Deteriorating Conditions

Her interaction with the whales developed against a background of rising activist criticism to their confinement.

During her time at the facility, seven belugas and the park’s one orca, Kiska, died. In all, nineteen belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a statistic which the facility ascribes to natural mortality, but which advocates say reflects the poor conditions in which they were kept.

The facility did not open to the visitors over the recent season, but the former trainer says she witnessed firsthand effects of the closure. “Concrete is deteriorating from the enclosures because they’re in disrepair and not being fixed. The whales are curious and so they take pieces and navigate with chunks in their mouth. It’s distressing to see.”

The park did not reply to a inquiry, but previously asserted: “The whales … get far superior veterinary services and around the clock supervision than any individual in the UK, or elsewhere.”

Uncertain Future and Potential Resolutions

Burgess was fired from the facility in recent months following the demise of a beluga, an ailing beluga the caretakers had to humanely kill. She said the facility believed particulars of the death were leaked to the media and she was fired shortly thereafter.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ outcome has left her and current and former trainers in distress. She says the park’s ultimatum to kill its whales is a negotiation tactic and is a “logistically impossible” task, adding any plans to euthanize even a single beluga would require “significant staff”, trucks and specialized tools.

“It’s impossible in hell the staff would ever do it,” she said.

Burgess advocates for calls for the whales to be taken right away from the park, with its failing enclosures and reduced personnel.

In late September, the nation’s government official turned down a request to send the whales to an overseas location.

“Granting the application would have meant a continued existence in captivity and a return to performance for audiences,” the minister wrote. “As society, we know that belugas should be in the wild, not in enclosures for our entertainment. I could not in good conscience permit an transfer that would perpetuate the situation these belugas have suffered.”

But the former trainer said the minister’s statements reveal a broader lack of awareness of the facts of life for belugas born in captivity.

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

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As officials attempt to find a solution, proposals have emerged, some of which have minimal feasibility. One proposal called for the belugas to be released into the natural habitat of Canada’s north – where whales are a primary resource of nourishment for Indigenous peoples.

A suggested sanctuary in the province of eastern Canada, which recently received official endorsement, has proven most controversial. The future facility, which includes a large area of protected cove, doesn’t yet exist. Advocates remain positive that it could eventually represent a permanent solution for a number of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among trainers she’s spoken with, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “merely an trial” in the whales’ fate.

Some experts say the prospect of a protected habitat indicates a changing attitudes away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a workable approach in the coming months.

An official, head of the plan, said the facility will replicate the cognitive activities and diet the whales get from caretakers, albeit in a significantly bigger area. He said after the medical condition of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|