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Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie Botts is an adorable small “ham sandwich”. Orion – called “Onion Ring” – is a big but very loyal friend. Zephyr has “endless energy” and moves like a wiggly creature. Lillooet is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a gentle spirit.

Thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canadian entertainment facility have become pawns in a disagreement between a closed attraction, government authorities and advocacy groups.

But those closest to the whales say the intense debate over their destiny often ignores the complexities of the whales who, after growing up in confinement, have been closely studied by the people who see them each day.

After the Canadian government disallowed the sale of the belugas to a foreign facility, the struggling amusement park near Niagara Falls where they are housed warned to euthanize them unless the government covers the upkeep of their care. The nation’s marine resources official has rejected that ultimatum, placing the thirty whales in an dangerously unstable circumstance.

Intelligent Sea Creatures

Experts say that beluga whales’ brain structure, along with their sound replication, intellectual tasks and social skills suggest they are highly cognitive mammals – something a former trainer observed directly.

Burgess spent three years as a beluga trainer, a job that required gaining confidence of the marine predators.

“Establishing those connections over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of love. At the outset, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “Over time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more open with you. It’s just so wonderful and rewarding.”

The trainer knew the whales were very smart, but she says she was even so amazed by the subtleties and quirks in their personalities. She developed a deep bond for a pair of whales with different temperaments.

“One whale chose me. The other required effort,” she said. “Each altered the way I understand relationships.”

Growing Opposition and Deteriorating Conditions

Burgess’s interaction with the whales progressed against a backdrop of growing public opposition to their enclosure.

During her time at the facility, seven belugas and the park’s single orca, the orca, succumbed. In all, 19 belugas have died at the park since recent years, a toll which the facility ascribes to expected lifespan, but which advocates say points to the poor conditions in which they were housed.

The park did not admit visitors to the guests over the summer, but the former trainer says she observed directly effects of the closure. “Structural materials is breaking off from the enclosures because they’re degrading and not being maintained. The whales are curious and so they pick it up and move about with chunks in their mouth. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The park did not respond to a questionnaire, but earlier claimed: “The whales … obtain far higher quality veterinary services and 24/7 attention than any human in the UK, or other places.”

Uncertain Future and Potential Resolutions

The former employee was terminated from the facility in early March following the passing of Eos, an sick beluga the caretakers had to euthanize. She said the facility believed information of the death were leaked to the media and she was let go soon after.

The ambiguity over the whales’ outcome has left Burgess and staff members in anguish. She says the park’s threat to end the lives of its whales is a negotiation tactic and is a “logistically impossible” undertaking, adding any efforts to put down even a single beluga would require “significant staff”, trucks and machinery.

“It’s impossible in hell the caretakers would ever do it,” she said.

She backs demands for the whales to be taken right away from the facility, with its failing enclosures and dwindling staff.

In recent months, the nation’s government official rejected a bid to transfer the whales to China.

“Allowing the proposal would have meant a perpetual existence in enclosure and a return to public entertainment,” the minister stated. “As Canadians, we know that marine mammals belong in the wild, not in enclosures for our amusement. I could not in good conscience authorize an transfer that would perpetuate the situation these belugas have suffered.”

But Burgess said the minister’s comments reveal a broader misunderstanding of the facts of living conditions for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

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

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As authorities work to find a resolution, proposals have been put forward, some of which have little basis in reality. One proposal called for the belugas to be released into the open waters of Canada’s north – where whales are a primary resource of food for Indigenous peoples.

A proposed protected area in the province of eastern Canada, which has received regulatory clearance, has proven highly debated. The prospective location, which includes a large area of enclosed sea water, is not yet built. Proponents remain optimistic that it could eventually represent a long term resolution for some of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among trainers she’s consulted, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “only an untested concept” in the whales’ well-being.

Different voices say the possibility of a sanctuary indicates a changing attitudes away from animal displays and could represent a workable solution in the coming months.

Charles Vinick, head of the sanctuary project, said the site will replicate the intellectual stimulation and diet the whales receive from caretakers, albeit in a significantly bigger space. He said after the medical condition of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|