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Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie Botts is an adorable small “sweetheart”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion Ring” – is a sizeable but guardian-like friend. Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and wiggles like a worm. Lillooet the beluga is the “loving presence” with a kind nature.

Thirty enclosed marine mammals in a Canada-based entertainment facility have become pawns in a struggle between a defunct facility, government authorities and advocacy groups.

But those working directly with the whales say the heated debate over their destiny often overlooks the individual traits of the whales who, after living their entire lives in confinement, have been closely studied by the humans who interact with them daily.

After the national authorities disallowed the export of the belugas to China, the embattled attraction near the famous falls where they are kept threatened to euthanize them unless the government pays for the expense of keeping them alive. Canada’s fisheries minister has rejected that ultimatum, placing the thirty whales in an increasingly precarious position.

Intelligent Sea Creatures

Scientists say that beluga whales’ neuroanatomy, along with their sound replication, intellectual tasks and social skills suggest they are deeply intelligent animals – something Kristy Burgess discovered personally.

Burgess spent a significant period as a whale caretaker, a role that required earning the trust of the aquatic animals.

“Developing those connections over time takes a lot of regularity and a lot of love. At the start, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “In time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so extraordinary and gratifying.”

The trainer knew the whales were very smart, but she says she was nonetheless astounded by the details and idiosyncrasies in their characters. She formed a deep bond for a pair of whales with contrasting temperaments.

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

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

Burgess’s relationship with the whales progressed against a context of growing public opposition to their confinement.

During her three years at the attraction, multiple belugas and the park’s single killer whale, Kiska, succumbed. In all, nineteen belugas have died at the park since recent years, a statistic which the park attributes to expected lifespan, but which advocates say points to the substandard environment in which they were kept.

The park did not open to the guests over the recent season, but the former trainer says she witnessed firsthand consequences of the closure. “Structural materials is breaking off from the pools because they’re degrading and not being repaired. The whales are exploratory and so they take pieces and navigate with fragments in their mouth. It’s distressing to see.”

The park did not reply to a inquiry, but earlier asserted: “The whales … get far better health care and constant care than any human in the Britain, or other places.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

Burgess was terminated from the park in the spring following the passing of Eos, an ailing beluga the employees had to humanely kill. She said the facility believed information of the death were disclosed to the news outlets and she was released not long after.

The ambiguity over the whales’ outcome has left Burgess and other caretakers in distress. She says the park’s ultimatum to end the lives of its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “extremely difficult” undertaking, adding any efforts to euthanize even a one beluga would require “considerable manpower”, trucks and heavy equipment.

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

Burgess supports calls for the whales to be removed right away from the park, with its crumbling tanks and reduced personnel.

In late September, the nation’s fisheries minister turned down a request to export the whales to an overseas location.

“To approve the application would have meant a ongoing situation in captivity and a reversion to display for amusement,” the minister wrote. “As Canadians, we know that marine mammals belong in the sea, not in enclosures for our entertainment. I could not in good conscience approve an relocation that would continue the conditions these belugas have suffered.”

But the former trainer said the minister’s remarks reflect a broader lack of awareness of the facts of existence for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The society needs to grasp these are whales that have lived entirely in enclosed habitats and they will need human care for the foreseeable future,” she said. “Many just don’t comprehend that it’s not as simple as saying ‘end operations’.”

Alternative Habitat and Ongoing Debate

As officials struggle to find a solution, proposals have been put forward, some of which have little basis in reality. An idea called for the belugas to be freed into the natural habitat of Canada’s north – where whales are a important part of sustenance for Inuit communities.

A suggested sanctuary in the region of eastern Canada, which has received government approval, has proven contentious. The prospective location, which includes a large area of enclosed sea water, is not yet built. Advocates remain optimistic that it could in time represent a permanent resolution for some of the whales.

But, Burgess says, among caretakers she’s discussed with, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “merely an untested concept” in the whales’ future.

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

The project lead, head of the plan, said the site will replicate the intellectual stimulation and feeding regimen the whales receive from caretakers, albeit in a much larger space. He said after the health of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|