The uncertain future of 30 beluga whales still living in tanks at Marineland—a shuttered aquarium and amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario—has drawn global outcry from animal rights activists this week after park officials warned they may euthanize the animals without immediate financial aid from the government.
“The idea that one would consider euthanizing them is just not morally acceptable, and it’s certainly something the government and the public should not accept,” said Charles Vinick, chief executive officer of The Whale Sanctuary Project, a Nova Scotia-based nonprofit that seeks to end the exploitation of whales and dolphins.
The park, which closed its doors to the public last year due to dwindling audiences and financial duress, issued its warning last week in a letter to Canada’s minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Joanne Thompson.
In it, park managers requested urgent federal funds to save the belugas. Without that support, they wrote, “We are fully indebted and rapidly running out of resources to provide adequate care for the whales. Our only options at this point are to either relocate the whales or face the devastating decision of euthanasia.”
In a more recent statement provided to Inside Climate News, marine park managers said they are in talks with local officials in Ontario to address the crisis: “Marineland is actively working with the provincial government to find a suitable solution that ensures the health and wellbeing of our 30 beluga whales. We sincerely appreciate their willingness to do so.”
But so far, no consensus has been reached, according to Vinick and other advocates, who are calling upon Ontario’s government to ensure the whales’ safety.
“Ontario has exclusive authority to intervene and protect these animals from distress and from being killed and they can send Marineland the bill for any care they provide,” said Camille Labchuk, an animal rights attorney and executive director of Animal Justice, a Canadian nonprofit that advocates for the humane treatment of animals.
Advocates say the belugas at stake need immediate comprehensive health assessments to determine the best options for their long-term care. Some can hopefully be moved to coastal sanctuaries where they would live out their remaining years under supervision in protected natural waters without being bred and used for entertainment as they have been for years at Marineland.
“They have entertained millions of people. They’ve raised millions of dollars for Marineland owners,” said Vinick. “We as the public, and Marineland, certainly owe them a pension, if you will.”
Most of Marineland’s belugas were born in captivity and have never learned to hunt, navigate open waters or protect themselves from predators, making release into the wild impossible.
“They don’t have the same ability to learn the skills that they need to to survive in the wild,” said Vinick. “So we do need to plan to care for them for life, but we need to do so in environments that are stimulating for them and that give them quality of life. That’s what sanctuaries are.”
And, he said, “We need many of them.”
Vinick and his team at The Whale Sanctuary Project are in the process of creating one of these sanctuaries on the eastern shore of Nova Scotia, where a large cove in Port Hilford Bay would be netted off to provide a secure environment for eight to 10 rescued belugas. The planned sanctuary will encompass more than 100 acres of ocean water, which Vinick said is up to 150 times larger than the tanks found in typical marine parks. Varied depths, natural flora and fauna and exposure to tides and waves will allow the whales to experience a dynamic marine environment while still receiving expert human care, he said.
But the sanctuary is just one possible solution of many needed in order to save Marineland’s belugas. This crisis requires multisector and international cooperation, Vinick said. “We all need to come together, government, non-governmental organizations, marine land, the zoo and aquarium, community and leadership, to figure out how we can help each one of these 30 individuals.”
But that sentiment extends far beyond the belugas in Niagara Falls.
Nearly 4,000 whales and dolphins are still held in captivity for human entertainment around the world, according to Whale and Dolphin Conservation, a global charity that works to protect marine mammals. But many aquariums and marine parks holding them are shutting down as people become more cognizant of the toll captivity takes on these highly intelligent animals.
“We’re seeing marine parks around the world suffer financial difficulties because the public no longer wants to see whales and dolphins performing for their supper,” Vinick said.
A growing body of scientific research has shown that cetaceans—which include whales, dolphins and porpoises—experience complex emotions, form lifelong family bonds and suffer deeply when confined to tanks that cannot replicate a vast and stimulating ocean.
At Marineland, the consequences have been stark.
At least 20 whales—19 belugas and one orca—have died at Marineland since 2019, according to Labchuk. This “astronomical” loss in the span of six years, she said, has likely been caused by subpar conditions at the park that have resulted in serious health issues for many of the animals.
Still, a spokesperson for Ontario’s solicitor general, Michael Kerzner, defended the facility’s oversight in a statement provided to Inside Climate News: “The provincial government, under the Provincial Animal Welfare Services (PAWS) Act, conducts regular inspections of Marineland to ensure compliance with standards of care. We have done our part, and inspectors continue to ensure that Marineland meets the province’s strict standards.”
Over the years, Canadian media reports, eyewitness accounts, aerial footage of the park and other investigations have documented overcrowded tanks, poor water quality and sickly looking animals with “blistered, flaking skin, red, bloodshot eyes and other issues,” Labchuk said.
In 2018, aerial photos of the marine park produced by Google Earth Pro showed 39 belugas in three cement pools. “The crowding is unbelievable,” Vinick said.
Belugas—sometimes called white whales for their pale color—are native to Arctic and subarctic waters around Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia. They are distinguished by their bulbous foreheads and ever-present “smile,” but they are also remarkable for their size and stamina. Adults can grow more than 17 feet long and weigh over 3,000 pounds. In the wild, they are known to travel more than 40 miles in a single day along unbroken stretches of ocean and dive 2,000 feet deep to feed on cod, squid and crustaceans on the seafloor.
At Marineland, however, the animals are confined to tanks no deeper than 30 feet. Even in the park’s largest enclosure, the whales can swim only a few body lengths before hitting a wall, according to a 2021 report by marine biologist Ingrid Visser from New Zealand. The report found none of the beluga pools complied with Ontario’s requirement that enclosures provide marine mammals with “sufficient space for appropriate activities.” A lack of space often results in aggressive fights among the belugas, many of which are covered with scars at the park, the report said.
And it’s likely the animals are experiencing even more psychological stress than we can see.
“Science now proves that these animals suffer not only physically in these small environments, but also mentally,” Vinick said.
Like other cetaceans, belugas rely on a rich acoustic world to navigate and interpret their surroundings. Known for their constant chatter of whistles and clicks, belugas are often called the canaries of the sea. In the ocean, these sounds reverberate across vast distances. But in a concrete tank, they ricochet endlessly off walls and ceilings, Vinick said.
“It’s perhaps equivalent to you or me living in a 10-by-10 room that’s all mirrored on the sides and the ceiling,” he said.
In 2019, Canada passed the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act, which makes it illegal to breed or keep whales, dolphins and porpoises for entertainment purposes. But like many countries with similar bans on keeping these animals captive, questions remain regarding what to do with the animals already in captivity and who is responsible for funding their long-term care.
In September, Marineland proposed to sell and transfer the whales they can no longer profit from to the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, another ocean-themed amusement park in China. But when the park requested the required permits to export the animals out of the country, the fisheries minister denied them.
In a statement she issued last week, Thompson said: “To approve the request would have meant a continued life in captivity and a return to public entertainment.” China currently hosts more captive cetaceans than any other country, according to Whale and Dolphin Conservation.
“We know that whales belong in the ocean, not in tanks for our amusement. I could not in good conscience approve an export that would perpetuate the treatment these belugas have endured,” Thompson said.
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Two days after the minister refused the park’s request for permits, Marineland responded with the letter stating the whales could be euthanized if she did not reconsider the request or fund the animals’ care, which, to date, the minister has refused.
“The fact that Marineland has not planned for a viable alternative, despite raising these whales in captivity for many years, does not place the onus on the Canadian government to recover your expenses,” she said in a letter to the park issued earlier this week. She did encourage the park, however, to propose alternative relocation sites where the animals can be guaranteed not to be bred or used for entertainment.
In a press release issued earlier this week, Labchuk, from Animal Justice, applauded the minister’s decision to uphold the ban on exporting cetaceans. “Canada finally has laws to protect whales and they can’t just be ignored for convenience—or because Marineland mismanaged its finances,” Labchuk said. “Marineland is holding a literal gun to the head of innocent whales while attempting to extort Canadian taxpayers.”
But with no clear plan in place, advocates worry that the window to find a humane solution is rapidly narrowing. “Every moment of delay increases the suffering of these animals,” Melissa Matlow, campaign director at World Animal Protection Canada, said in a statement. The group is calling on the province of Ontario for support.
The organization has proposed transforming Marineland itself into a palliative care facility—a hospice-style refuge where independent experts would oversee the whales’ care and ensure high welfare standards, with costs borne by the park, according to a statement issued last week.
World Animal Protection Canada is also urging the government to fast-track the development of the proposed seaside whale sanctuary in Nova Scotia, coordinating support between Ottawa, Ontario and Nova Scotia to ensure a smooth transition for the animals. The sanctuary would allow some of Marineland’s belugas to retire to a natural, more stimulating marine environment where they could receive round-the-clock care.
“This is a tragedy that’s been decades in the making,” said Matlow. “The animals at Marineland deserve compassion and dignity in their final years, not being shipped off to a facility with a risk of breeding and further use for entertainment purposes. We must move beyond denial and commit to solutions that prioritize their welfare.”
To make the Nova Scotia sanctuary a reality, Vinick said several key construction phases must begin immediately, including installing ocean nets, building land-based infrastructure and preparing the site’s facilities for animal care and operations. The project is estimated to cost about $15 million and has already raised substantial funds, but Vinick said broader participation from corporations, governments and global partners will be essential to complete the work and hopefully welcome the first belugas by next summer.
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Oceans Correspondent
Teresa Tomassoni is an environmental journalist covering the intersections between oceans, climate change, coastal communities and wildlife for Inside Climate News. Her previous work has appeared in The Washington Post, NPR, NBC Latino and the Smithsonian American Indian Magazine. Teresa holds a master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. She is also a recipient of the Stone & Holt Weeks Social Justice Reporting Fellowship. She has taught journalism for Long Island University and the School of the New York Times. She is an avid scuba diver and spends much of her free time underwater.
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