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The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie is an charming small “ham sandwich”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion” – is a large but fiercely protective friend. Another whale, Zephyr has “endless energy” and sways like a wiggly creature. Lillooet is the “loving presence” with a heart of gold.

A group of thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canadian amusement park have become pawns in a tussle between a closed attraction, government authorities and advocacy groups.

But those most familiar with the whales say the impassioned debate over their destiny often ignores the individual traits of the whales who, after spending their lives in confinement, have been carefully observed by the caretakers who work with them regularly.

After the Canadian government prevented the sale of the belugas to a foreign facility, the controversial attraction near the famous falls where they are held warned to put them down unless the government covers the cost of keeping them alive. The nation’s fisheries minister has refused that demand, placing the thirty whales in an ever more uncertain position.

Intelligent Sea Creatures

Experts say that beluga whales’ neuroanatomy, along with their sound replication, cognitive challenges and group interactions indicate they are remarkably smart animals – something a former trainer discovered personally.

She spent several years as a whale caretaker, a role that involved gaining confidence of the marine predators.

“Developing those relationships over time takes a lot of dedication and a lot of care. At the start, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “In time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more trusting with you. It’s just so magical and rewarding.”

The trainer knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nonetheless surprised by the details and idiosyncrasies in their characters. She cultivated a special affection for a pair of whales with opposing natures.

“Eve selected me. The other made me earn it,” she said. “Both changed the way I understand bonding.”

Growing Opposition and Deteriorating Conditions

Burgess’s relationship with the whales developed against a backdrop of growing public opposition to their confinement.

During her three years at the facility, multiple belugas and the park’s single killer whale, the orca, passed away. In total, nineteen belugas have perished at the park since 2019, a toll which the park attributes to natural mortality, but which campaigners say points to the substandard environment in which they were kept.

The park did not open to the guests over the recent season, but Burgess says she witnessed firsthand results of the closure. “Structural materials is deteriorating from the pools because they’re falling apart and not being repaired. The whales are exploratory and so they pick it up and move about with pieces in their mouth. It’s upsetting to see.”

The facility did not comment to a inquiry, but in the past asserted: “The whales … obtain far superior medical attention and around the clock care than any person in the UK, or anywhere else.”

Fate in Limbo and Potential Resolutions

Burgess was fired from the facility in early March following the death of a beluga, an ailing beluga the employees had to humanely kill. She said the park suspected details of the incident were disclosed to the news outlets and she was fired shortly thereafter.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ future has left Burgess and current and former trainers in despair. She says the facility’s ultimatum to end the lives of its whales is a leverage tool and is a “logistically impossible” task, adding any plans to euthanize even a one beluga would require “immense manpower”, trucks and heavy equipment.

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

Burgess supports requests for the whales to be taken immediately from the facility, with its deteriorating pools and reduced personnel.

In recent months, the nation’s fisheries minister denied a proposal to transfer the whales to China.

“To approve the application would have meant a continued life in captivity and a return to public entertainment,” the official stated. “As society, we know that belugas belong in the ocean, not in tanks for our amusement. I could not in ethical standing permit an relocation that would continue the conditions these belugas have experienced.”

But the former trainer said the minister’s statements indicate a more general lack of awareness of the circumstances of life for belugas raised in confinement.

“The public needs to realize these are whales that have existed solely in captivity and they will need human care for the remainder of their lives,” she said. “People just don’t understand that it’s not as easy as saying ‘shut it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As officials struggle to find a resolution, proposals have emerged, some of which have questionable practicality. One proposal called for the belugas to be freed into the open waters of Canada’s north – where whales are a primary resource of food for Indigenous peoples.

A proposed sanctuary in the region of Nova Scotia, which recently received official endorsement, has been highly debated. The prospective facility, which includes a large area of penned in ocean, doesn’t yet exist. Proponents remain hopeful that it could in time represent a permanent answer for eight of the whales.

But, Burgess says, among trainers she’s discussed with, there is “skepticism there” about what she said is “simply an untested concept” in the whales’ future.

Others say the idea of a refuge represents a broader global shift away from captive facilities and could represent a feasible approach in the near future.

An official, head of the initiative, said the location will mimic the cognitive activities and diet the whales get from trainers, albeit in a significantly bigger environment. He said after the well-being of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|