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Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie is an charming small “playful character”. The whale Orion – called “Onion Ring” – is a big but very loyal friend. Another whale, Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and sways like a wiggly creature. Lillooet is the “most affectionate” with a gentle spirit.

Thirty captive marine mammals in a Canadian amusement park have been entangled in a struggle between a shuttered park, public officials and advocacy groups.

But those working directly with the whales say the impassioned debate over their future often fails to consider the nuances of the whales who, after living their entire lives in confinement, have been closely studied by the humans who see them each day.

After the federal government prevented the export of the belugas to a foreign facility, the struggling facility near the famous falls where they are housed threatened to end their lives unless the authorities funds the cost of their care. Canada’s marine resources official has rejected that demand, placing the 30 whales in an ever more uncertain situation.

Highly Cognitive Sea Creatures

Researchers say that belugas’ neural makeup, along with their sound replication, cognitive challenges and communal behavior point to they are remarkably smart animals – something Kristy Burgess observed first-hand.

She spent several years as a beluga trainer, a job that entailed gaining confidence of the sea creatures.

“Establishing those relationships over time takes a lot of dedication and a lot of affection. At the start, they’re very unsure of you,” she said. “Over time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more trusting with you. It’s just so wonderful and rewarding.”

Burgess knew the whales were very smart, but she says she was nevertheless surprised by the details and idiosyncrasies in their dispositions. She cultivated a particular love for a pair of whales with opposing personalities.

“Eve selected me. Cleo made me earn it,” she said. “Both changed the way I perceive connection.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

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

During her tenure at the facility, multiple belugas and the park’s single killer whale, the orca, succumbed. In total, 19 belugas have died at the park since recent years, a toll which the facility ascribes to age-related causes, but which advocates say points to the poor conditions in which they were housed.

The park did not operate to the public over the recent season, but Burgess says she witnessed firsthand results of the closure. “Structural materials is breaking off from the tanks because they’re in disrepair and not being fixed. The whales are curious and so they take pieces and swim around with pieces in their jaws. It’s distressing to see.”

The park did not reply to a questionnaire, but earlier asserted: “The whales … receive far superior veterinary services and constant supervision than any human in the Britain, or elsewhere.”

Uncertain Future and Potential Resolutions

Burgess was fired from the facility in early March following the passing of a beluga, an unwell beluga the park staff had to humanely kill. She said the facility believed details of the incident were leaked to the news outlets and she was let go not long after.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ outcome has left her and current and former trainers in distress. She says the facility’s ultimatum to euthanize its whales is a leverage tool and is a “extremely difficult” undertaking, adding any plans to humanely kill even a individual beluga would require “considerable staff”, equipment and machinery.

“It cannot happen in hell the caretakers would ever do it,” she said.

Burgess supports calls for the whales to be transferred right away from the facility, with its failing enclosures and shrinking team.

In the autumn, the nation’s government official turned down a proposal to send the whales to China.

“To approve the proposal would have meant a perpetual situation in confinement and a return to performance for audiences,” the minister stated. “As Canadians, we know that belugas are meant for the sea, not in tanks for our entertainment. I could not in clear conscience approve an transfer that would continue the conditions these belugas have suffered.”

But the former trainer said the minister’s remarks indicate a more general lack of awareness of the circumstances of life 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 constant supervision for the rest of their years,” she said. “Many just don’t comprehend that it’s not as straightforward as saying ‘close it down’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Continuing Discussion

As decision makers work to find a resolution, suggestions have surfaced, some of which have little basis in reality. A suggested plan called for the belugas to be let go into the wilds of Canada’s north – where whales are a important part of sustenance for Indigenous peoples.

A planned refuge in the province of Nova Scotia, which now received government approval, has proven most controversial. The prospective location, which includes 100 acres of enclosed sea water, doesn’t yet exist. Advocates remain optimistic that it could eventually represent a long term answer for eight of the whales.

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

Different voices say the possibility of a protected habitat represents a broader global shift away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a workable approach in the coming months.

An official, leader of the initiative, said the site will simulate the intellectual stimulation and nutrition the whales obtain from trainers, albeit in a much larger area. He said after the well-being of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|