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Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie is an charming small “ham sandwich”. The whale Orion – nicknamed “Onion Ring” – is a big but fiercely protective friend. Zephyr has “constant motion” and wiggles like a wiggly creature. Lillooet is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a kind nature.

Thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canada-based entertainment facility have been entangled in a tussle between a closed attraction, local and national governments and animal rights activists.

But those closest to the whales say the intense debate over their destiny often overlooks the complexities of the whales who, after growing up in confinement, have been thoroughly researched by the caretakers who work with them regularly.

After the national authorities disallowed the sale of the belugas to China, the struggling facility near the famous falls where they are kept warned to euthanize them unless the authorities pays for the upkeep of keeping them alive. Canada’s marine resources official has rejected that request, placing the 30 whales in an dangerously unstable circumstance.

Intelligent Marine Mammals

Experts say that beluga whales’ neuroanatomy, along with their mimicry abilities, problem solving and social skills point to they are highly cognitive mammals – something a former trainer discovered personally.

She spent a significant period as a whale caretaker, a role that required gaining confidence of the sea creatures.

“Developing those bonds over time takes a lot of regularity and a lot of care. At the start, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “In time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so magical and gratifying.”

The trainer knew the whales were very smart, but she says she was even so amazed by the nuances and quirks in their characters. She developed a particular love for two female belugas with contrasting natures.

“Eve chose me. The other required effort,” she said. “They altered the way I perceive connection.”

Growing Opposition and Deteriorating Conditions

Her interaction with the whales evolved against a context of rising activist criticism to their confinement.

During her tenure at the facility, multiple belugas and the park’s one orca, the orca, passed away. In total, nineteen belugas have perished at the park since recent years, a statistic which the park attributes to age-related causes, but which activists say indicates the poor conditions in which they were housed.

The facility did not open to the public over the recent season, but the former trainer says she witnessed firsthand effects of the shutdown. “Structural materials is falling apart from the enclosures because they’re degrading and not being repaired. The whales are curious and so they grab fragments and move about with fragments in their mouth. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The park did not comment to a inquiry, but in the past claimed: “The whales … obtain far better veterinary services and 24/7 attention than any person in the United Kingdom, or anywhere else.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was terminated from the facility in recent months following the demise of Eos, an sick beluga the park staff had to put down. She said the park believed information of the incident were shared to the media and she was released soon after.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ future has left Burgess and current and former trainers in distress. She says the park’s threat to euthanize its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “practically unfeasible” undertaking, adding any efforts to humanely kill even a individual beluga would require “considerable manpower”, trucks and machinery.

“There’s no way in hell the staff would ever do it,” she said.

Burgess supports requests for the whales to be transferred immediately from the facility, with its failing enclosures and reduced personnel.

In late September, the nation’s fisheries minister rejected a proposal to send the whales to an overseas location.

“Granting the request would have meant a perpetual situation in enclosure and a return to public entertainment,” the official stated. “As the public, we know that whales belong in the ocean, not in tanks for our enjoyment. I could not in good conscience permit an transfer that would prolong the situation these belugas have suffered.”

But Burgess said the minister’s statements indicate a more general lack of awareness of the facts of life for belugas born in captivity.

“The public needs to understand these are whales that have lived entirely in confinement and they will need constant supervision for the foreseeable future,” she said. “People just don’t understand that it’s not as simple as saying ‘close it down’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Continuing Discussion

As officials work to find a solution, ideas have surfaced, some of which have minimal feasibility. One proposal called for the belugas to be let go into the open waters of the Arctic – where whales are a primary resource of food for Indigenous peoples.

A planned protected area in the region of eastern Canada, which recently received government approval, has been contentious. The future site, which includes 100 acres of penned in ocean, remains undeveloped. Proponents remain optimistic that it could eventually represent a sustainable resolution for some of the whales.

But, Burgess says, among staff she’s consulted, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “simply an trial” in the whales’ well-being.

Others say the idea of a sanctuary indicates a broader global shift away from captive facilities and could represent a viable approach in the short term.

The project lead, head of the plan, said the facility will replicate the mental engagement and feeding regimen the whales obtain from specialists, albeit in a much larger area. He said after the health of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|