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Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie Botts is an adorable little “sweetheart”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion” – is a big but guardian-like companion. Another whale, Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and moves like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “loving presence” with a gentle spirit.

A group of thirty enclosed marine mammals in a Canadian entertainment facility have been caught in a tussle between a closed attraction, public officials and welfare campaigners.

But those working directly with the whales say the intense debate over their fate often ignores the nuances of the whales who, after spending their lives in confinement, have been closely studied by the people who interact with them daily.

After the national authorities disallowed the sale of the belugas to a foreign facility, the embattled amusement park near the famous falls where they are kept threatened to put them down unless the government covers the expense of their survival. Canada’s fisheries minister has rejected that request, placing the thirty whales in an ever more uncertain situation.

Intelligent Marine Mammals

Researchers say that beluga whales’ neuroanatomy, along with their mimicry abilities, intellectual tasks and communal behavior point to they are highly cognitive mammals – something a former trainer discovered directly.

She spent a significant period as a beluga trainer, a role that involved gaining confidence of the marine predators.

“Establishing those relationships over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of care. At the outset, they’re very unsure of you,” she said. “In time, you gain reciprocal understanding. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so extraordinary and gratifying.”

The trainer knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was nevertheless amazed by the details and quirks in their personalities. She developed a particular love for two female belugas with different natures.

“One whale accepted me. The other demanded work,” she said. “Each transformed the way I understand relationships.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

Her interaction with the whales evolved against a background of rising activist criticism to their enclosure.

During her tenure at the facility, seven belugas and the park’s single orca, Kiska, died. In all, nineteen belugas have died at the park since recent years, a number which the park ascribes to natural mortality, but which activists say indicates the inadequate care in which they were kept.

The park did not operate to the visitors over the recent season, but the former trainer says she saw with her own eyes effects of the shutdown. “Structural materials is deteriorating from the enclosures because they’re degrading and not being repaired. The whales are exploratory and so they pick it up and navigate with fragments in their jaws. It’s distressing to see.”

The facility did not comment to a inquiry, but in the past stated: “The whales … receive far higher quality health care and around the clock care than any individual in the United Kingdom, or other places.”

Uncertain Future and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was terminated from the park in recent months following the demise of a beluga, an ailing beluga the caretakers had to humanely kill. She said the facility thought particulars of the incident were leaked to the press and she was let go soon after.

The ambiguity over the whales’ future has left Burgess and current and former trainers in distress. She says the park’s ultimatum to kill its whales is a leverage tool and is a “extremely difficult” endeavor, adding any plans to euthanize even a individual beluga would require “significant manpower”, equipment and heavy equipment.

“There’s no way in hell the caretakers would ever do it,” she said.

Burgess supports demands for the whales to be taken immediately from the park, with its failing enclosures and dwindling staff.

In recent months, Canada’s fisheries minister turned down a request to transfer the whales to China.

“Granting the proposal would have meant a ongoing situation in captivity and a reversion to performance for audiences,” the minister stated. “As Canadians, we know that marine mammals are meant for the ocean, not in tanks for our entertainment. I could not in clear conscience authorize an relocation that would continue the situation these belugas have endured.”

But Burgess said the minister’s comments indicate a more general lack of awareness of the realities of living conditions for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The people needs to grasp these are whales that have spent their whole lives in enclosed habitats and they will need ongoing assistance for the remainder of their lives,” she said. “People just don’t comprehend that it’s not as straightforward as saying ‘close it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As decision makers struggle to find a resolution, ideas have been put forward, some of which have minimal feasibility. One proposal called for the belugas to be freed into the natural habitat of northern regions – where whales are a key source of sustenance for Inuit communities.

A proposed protected area in the region of eastern Canada, which has received official endorsement, has shown to be most controversial. The prospective site, which includes a large area of penned in ocean, is not yet built. Advocates remain positive that it could in time represent a long term answer for some of the whales.

But, Burgess says, among caretakers she’s discussed with, there is “skepticism there” about what she said is “simply an untested concept” in the whales’ well-being.

Some experts say the prospect of a refuge indicates a broader global shift away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a workable solution in the near future.

An official, head of the initiative, said the location will simulate the intellectual stimulation and diet the whales get from caretakers, albeit in a significantly bigger environment. He said after the medical condition of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|