Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an adorable little “sweetheart”. The whale Orion – nicknamed “Onion” – is a large but fiercely protective companion. Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and wiggles like a wiggly creature. Lillooet is the “loving presence” with a heart of gold.
A group of thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canada-based entertainment facility have been caught in a tussle between a shuttered park, local and national governments and advocacy groups.
But those closest to the whales say the heated discussion over their fate often overlooks the nuances of the whales who, after living their entire lives in captivity, have been closely studied by the humans who interact with them daily.
After the federal government prevented the transfer of the belugas to a foreign facility, the struggling facility near the famous falls where they are housed stated it would consider to euthanize them unless the government funds the expense of keeping them alive. Canada’s marine resources official has rejected that ultimatum, placing the 30 whales in an ever more uncertain circumstance.
Researchers say that beluga whales’ neuroanatomy, along with their vocal imitation skills, intellectual tasks and group interactions indicate they are deeply intelligent mammals – something Kristy Burgess observed personally.
Burgess spent a significant period as a marine mammal specialist, a position that involved earning the trust of the marine predators.
“Developing those bonds over time takes a lot of regularity and a lot of affection. At the outset, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “Eventually, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more trusting with you. It’s just so extraordinary and fulfilling.”
Burgess knew the whales were very smart, but she says she was nonetheless astounded by the subtleties and idiosyncrasies in their personalities. She cultivated a special affection for a pair of whales with opposing natures.
“One whale chose me. The other made me earn it,” she said. “Both changed the way I view relationships.”
Her interaction with the whales developed against a background of growing public opposition to their enclosure.
During her time at the park, multiple belugas and the park’s one orca, the orca, succumbed. In total, nineteen belugas have died at the park since recent years, a statistic which the facility attributes to age-related causes, but which advocates say points to the inadequate care in which they were kept.
The park did not admit visitors to the visitors over the recent season, but Burgess says she saw with her own eyes results of the closure. “Concrete is breaking off from the pools because they’re in disrepair and not being repaired. The whales are curious and so they take pieces and move about with pieces in their jaws. It’s upsetting to see.”
The facility did not comment to a questionnaire, but earlier asserted: “The whales … obtain far superior veterinary services and 24/7 care than any human in the United Kingdom, or elsewhere.”
The former employee was fired from the park in the spring following the passing of a beluga, an unwell beluga the employees had to humanely kill. She said the park believed information of the incident were disclosed to the media and she was let go shortly thereafter.
The lack of clarity over the whales’ future has left her and other caretakers in despair. She says the park’s warning to euthanize its whales is a negotiation tactic and is a “logistically impossible” undertaking, adding any plans to humanely kill even a individual beluga would require “immense manpower”, vehicles and machinery.
“There’s no way in hell the employees would ever do it,” she said.
Burgess backs calls for the whales to be removed immediately from the park, with its crumbling tanks and reduced personnel.
In recent months, the nation’s fisheries minister denied a request to send the whales to an overseas location.
“To approve the proposal would have meant a perpetual existence in confinement and a return to public entertainment,” the official wrote. “As Canadians, we know that marine mammals should be in the sea, not in tanks for our entertainment. I could not in ethical standing permit an transfer that would continue the treatment these belugas have experienced.”
But Burgess said the official’s remarks reveal a more general misunderstanding of the realities of living conditions for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.
“The people needs to grasp these are whales that have existed solely in enclosed habitats and they will need ongoing assistance for the rest of their years,” she said. “The public just don’t comprehend that it’s not as simple as saying ‘shut it down’.”
As authorities work to find a resolution, proposals have emerged, some of which have little basis in reality. An idea called for the belugas to be freed into the wilds of the Arctic – where whales are a primary resource of food for Inuit communities.
A planned sanctuary in the region of Nova Scotia, which has received government approval, has shown to be highly debated. The planned location, which includes 100 acres of penned in ocean, remains undeveloped. Proponents remain optimistic that it could eventually represent a permanent answer for some of the whales.
But, the former trainer says, among trainers she’s consulted, there is “doubts 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 zoos and aquariums and could represent a viable solution in the short term.
The project lead, head of the sanctuary project, said the facility will simulate the mental engagement and feeding regimen the whales receive from caretakers, albeit in a significantly bigger environment. He said after the well-being of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|
