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The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie is an charming little “playful character”. Orion – called “Onion Ring” – is a big but very loyal friend. Zephyr has “constant motion” and moves like a worm. Lillooet is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a heart of gold.

A group of thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canada-based entertainment facility have become pawns in a disagreement between a closed attraction, local and national governments and animal rights activists.

But those working directly with the whales say the impassioned debate over their destiny often fails to consider the individual traits of the whales who, after spending their lives in enclosed habitats, have been carefully observed by the people who work with them regularly.

After the national authorities prevented the sale of the belugas to a foreign facility, the struggling attraction near Niagara Falls where they are kept warned to euthanize them unless the government pays for the expense of keeping them alive. Canada’s fisheries minister has rejected that ultimatum, placing the 30 whales in an ever more uncertain situation.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Scientists say that beluga whales’ neural makeup, along with their sound replication, cognitive challenges and social skills indicate they are remarkably smart mammals – something a former trainer discovered first-hand.

She spent three years as a marine mammal specialist, a role that involved earning the trust of the marine predators.

“Building up those relationships over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of love. At the beginning, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “Eventually, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so extraordinary and fulfilling.”

Burgess knew the whales were exceptionally cognitive, but she says she was nevertheless amazed by the subtleties and idiosyncrasies in their characters. She developed a special affection for two female belugas with opposing natures.

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

Public Concerns and Deteriorating Conditions

Burgess’s connection with the whales progressed against a background of growing public opposition to their captivity.

During her three years at the attraction, multiple belugas and the park’s single killer whale, Kiska, passed away. In total, 19 belugas have perished at the park since recent years, a toll which the facility attributes to natural mortality, but which advocates say points to the inadequate care in which they were housed.

The park did not open to the visitors over the recent season, but Burgess says she saw with her own eyes results of the cessation. “Concrete is deteriorating from the enclosures because they’re in disrepair and not being fixed. The whales are exploratory and so they take pieces and swim around with chunks in their jaws. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The park did not reply to a request for comment, but in the past asserted: “The whales … get far better health care and 24/7 supervision than any person in the UK, or elsewhere.”

Uncertain Future and Proposed Solutions

Burgess was terminated from the park in the spring following the death of a beluga, an unwell beluga the caretakers had to euthanize. She said the facility believed particulars of the death were disclosed to the media and she was released not long after.

The ambiguity over the whales’ fate has left Burgess and current and former trainers in distress. She says the facility’s warning to end the lives of its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “logistically impossible” task, adding any attempts to euthanize even a individual beluga would require “considerable personnel”, vehicles and machinery.

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

She backs demands for the whales to be removed immediately from the park, with its crumbling tanks and dwindling staff.

In the autumn, Canada’s government official denied a request to export the whales to China.

“Allowing the application would have meant a continued situation in confinement and a reversion to performance for audiences,” the minister stated. “As the public, we know that belugas should be in the ocean, not in tanks for our enjoyment. I could not in good conscience approve an export that would perpetuate the treatment these belugas have suffered.”

But Burgess said the official’s remarks reveal a wider incorrect perception of the circumstances of living conditions for belugas born in captivity.

“The people needs to understand these are whales that have existed solely in enclosed habitats and they will need constant supervision for the foreseeable future,” she said. “Many just don’t understand that it’s not as simple as saying ‘close it down’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Continuing Discussion

As officials attempt to find a solution, ideas have been put forward, some of which have questionable practicality. An idea called for the belugas to be released into the wilds of Canada’s north – where whales are a important part of food for Indigenous peoples.

A planned sanctuary in the province of Nova Scotia, which recently received government approval, has been contentious. The future facility, which includes 100 acres of enclosed sea water, remains undeveloped. Supporters remain positive that it could ultimately represent a permanent resolution for some of the whales.

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

Others say the possibility of a sanctuary represents a changing attitudes away from captive facilities and could represent a workable plan in the near future.

Charles Vinick, head of the plan, said the location will replicate the cognitive activities and nutrition the whales obtain from trainers, albeit in a significantly bigger environment. He said after the well-being of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|