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Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie is an cute small “playful character”. Orion – called “Onion” – is a big but guardian-like companion. Zephyr has “constant motion” and moves like a wiggly creature. Lillooet is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a kind nature.

Thirty captive marine mammals in a Canada-based amusement park have been entangled in a tussle between a closed attraction, local and national governments and welfare campaigners.

But those most familiar with the whales say the intense discussion over their fate often ignores the individual traits of the whales who, after living their entire lives in enclosed habitats, have been closely studied by the humans who work with them regularly.

After the Canadian government prevented the export of the belugas to China, the controversial attraction near Niagara Falls where they are housed warned to put them down unless the government covers the upkeep of their care. Canada’s fisheries minister has rejected that ultimatum, placing the thirty whales in an ever more uncertain situation.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Scientists say that belugas’ neural makeup, along with their vocal imitation skills, problem solving and communal behavior point to they are remarkably smart mammals – something Kristy Burgess learned directly.

She spent a significant period as a beluga trainer, a job that entailed building relationships 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 wary of you,” she said. “Eventually, you gain shared confidence. And they start being more trusting with you. It’s just so magical and gratifying.”

The trainer knew the whales were exceptionally cognitive, but she says she was even so astounded by the details and idiosyncrasies in their dispositions. She developed a particular love for two female belugas with opposing temperaments.

“One whale accepted me. Cleo demanded work,” she said. “Both changed the way I view relationships.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

Her interaction with the whales developed against a backdrop of growing public opposition to their confinement.

During her time at the facility, seven belugas and the park’s one killer whale, Kiska, died. In all, nineteen belugas have died at the park since recent years, a toll which the park links to expected lifespan, but which activists say points to the substandard environment in which they were housed.

The facility did not admit visitors to the visitors over the recent season, but Burgess says she saw with her own eyes effects of the cessation. “Structural materials is breaking off from the pools because they’re degrading and not being repaired. The whales are curious and so they pick it up and navigate with fragments in their mouth. It’s upsetting to see.”

The park did not respond to a request for comment, but earlier stated: “The whales … obtain far superior veterinary services and around the clock attention than any person in the UK, or other places.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was fired from the facility in recent months following the demise of a beluga, an ailing beluga the caretakers had to euthanize. She said the facility suspected particulars of the incident were disclosed to the news outlets and she was let go soon after.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ future has left Burgess and other caretakers in anguish. She says the park’s warning to end the lives of its whales is a leverage tool and is a “logistically impossible” task, adding any efforts to put down even a single beluga would require “significant personnel”, vehicles and specialized tools.

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

She backs calls for the whales to be transferred right away from the park, with its failing enclosures and reduced personnel.

In the autumn, the nation’s government official denied a proposal to export the whales to China.

“Granting the application would have meant a perpetual life in confinement and a return to public entertainment,” the official stated. “As the public, 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 prolong the conditions these belugas have experienced.”

But the former trainer said the minister’s statements reveal a wider lack of awareness of the facts of life for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The society needs to understand these are whales that have spent their whole lives in confinement and they will need constant supervision for the foreseeable future,” she said. “The public just don’t realize that it’s not as straightforward as saying ‘end operations’.”

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As officials attempt to find a solution, proposals have emerged, some of which have questionable practicality. One proposal called for the belugas to be freed into the natural habitat of the Arctic – where whales are a important part of sustenance for Indigenous peoples.

A suggested sanctuary in the province of eastern Canada, which has received official endorsement, has proven contentious. The future site, which includes extensive space of protected cove, doesn’t yet exist. Supporters remain optimistic that it could in time represent a permanent solution for eight of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among trainers she’s spoken with, there is “doubts there” about what she said is “simply an untested concept” in the whales’ future.

Others say the idea of a protected habitat reflects a broader global shift away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a workable plan in the short term.

An official, leader of the sanctuary project, said the facility will mimic the cognitive activities and feeding regimen the whales obtain from specialists, albeit in a significantly bigger area. He said after the well-being of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|