Rescued from a Closed-Down Park, Canada’s 30 Belugas Face an Uncertain Future
Handlers knelt in shallow water to stroke the sides of Tofino, a beluga whale weighing more than 1,500kg, before a crane lifted him into a lorry bound for SeaWorld San Antonio. He was the last of 30 belugas and four dolphins to leave Marineland, the shuttered sea park near Niagara Falls.
Marineland had been searching for a new home for its whales after the Canadian government blocked a proposed sale to China over animal-welfare concerns, a decision that left the park’s operators warning the animals would otherwise have to be euthanised. Several aquariums joined forces this summer for what became the largest transfer of captive whales ever carried out, sending animals to Chicago, Atlanta, San Diego, San Antonio and even Valencia in Spain. Photographer Carlos Osorio, who documented the move, watched drone footage of Tofino appearing to say his own goodbyes. Canada outlawed cetacean captivity and breeding seven years ago, making Tofino the country’s last captive whale. “This is the last one to happen and it’s never going to happen again,” Osorio says.
A string of deaths follows the rescue
Hopes that the whales were headed for better lives have since been clouded by a series of deaths, five belugas and one dolphin so far. Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium has lost the most: Marineland transfers Peekachu, Rain, Orisis and Caspian, plus its own long-term resident Beethoven. Necropsies pointed to chronic gastrointestinal inflammation in two of the whales, with feathers, rocks and paint flecks found in their stomachs, items Shedd believes were swallowed before the animals ever left Canada. In Spain, Oceanogràfic València recorded the deaths of a beluga and a dolphin that had arrived with serious vision and breathing problems.
Experts caution it is too early to draw conclusions, noting the whales had faced euthanasia and years in an ageing facility, around 20 whales reportedly died at Marineland between 2019 and last September. The park, once Canada’s most popular amusement destination, closed in 2024 amid welfare concerns and financial difficulties following its long-time owner’s death. Public tolerance for keeping whales in captivity has shifted dramatically since the park opened in 1961, with France and Mexico among other countries now curbing the practice.
Melissa Matlow of World Animal Protection Canada estimates roughly 3,600 cetaceans remain in captivity worldwide, with few realistic options for animals that never learned to survive in the wild, a situation she calls a “growing animal welfare crisis”. Her organisation had reservations about moving the Marineland whales at all, arguing that any animal too fragile for transport should have stayed put. Shedd has acknowledged some of the belugas arrived with significant, long-standing medical issues that pre-move assessments could not fully predict, though it says the rest are eating well and showing encouraging signs.
An alternative floated by welfare advocates is a seaside sanctuary planned for Nova Scotia. Neuroscientist Lori Marino, who leads the Whale Sanctuary Project, hopes it could eventually house up to 15 whales, calling it “an exit ramp” for animals that can never be released. Construction began only in the past two months, a decade after the project was first conceived, and organisers still need roughly C$6m (£3.1m) in additional funding. Similar offshore sanctuaries remain unproven, a planned Icelandic facility recently postponed introducing its first two whales until next summer. Michael Weiss of the Center for Whale Research calls such projects “theoretical and aspirational” for now, though still an improvement on concrete tanks.
Critics point out that while Canada’s ban covers breeding too, the aquariums now housing its former whales operate under no such restriction. At Georgia Aquarium, which took in two male belugas that have since begun socialising with its resident females, curator Jason Jones defends the practice: “Breeding is part of good animal welfare, and so we want to make sure that they get the opportunity to do so.”
Source: BBC News